


For Only The Buried

by qtgoldstein



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, As it should be, F/F, F/M, Femslash, Friendship, Future Fic, Romance, Slow Build, also idek about ships man everyone's gay, crying after toa, piper mclean centric, so done with the gods
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2019-10-21 13:23:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 85,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17643644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qtgoldstein/pseuds/qtgoldstein
Summary: The one where Piper McLean is twenty years old, trying to forget all that had happened, and is dragged back to the world that broke her in the first place. That world of gods and heroes that's brought her and her family nothing but heartbreak.And then word comes of another war looming over the horizon, one that seeks to bring everyone back to a more Heroic age, one that brings back more than war.// includes spoilers for 'trials of apollo'.





	1. Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where it begins.

> "Fool, prate not to me about covenants. There can be no covenants between lions and men, wolves and lambs can never be of one mind, but hate each other through and through. Therefore there can be no understanding between you and me, nor may there be any covenants between us, till one or other shall fall and glut grim Ares with his life's blood."
> 
>                          -- _Achilles_
> 
>  
> 
> "I get so much flack for that war, but honestly, Paris and Helen were a cute couple. And the heroes of that war are immortal now -- at least in the memories of men. Love is powerful, Piper. It can bring even the gods to their knees."  
> 
> _\--  Aphrodite_

 

 

 _Keep it together. Grab a sandwich at 7-Eleven on the way. Get there on time. Set up the props. Keep it together._  

 

Piper felt someone shove against her. The tote bag barely hanging off her hand fell with a clanging thud. “Oh, come _on_ …” she scowled.

 

“Excuse you.” The older woman huffed, bumping against Piper one more time as she strode forward. The bus hissed to a halt in front of them and Piper joined the line in a lazy slide.

 

_Keep it together. Maybe a grilled cheese sandwich? Onion’s only good when the microwave’s working. Keep it together._

 

Fifteen minutes later, Piper stood up from her seat. She made sure to bump her tote bag against the woman’s head as she walked down the aisle. The demigod ran out before the woman could protest.

 

_Fight Typhon’s little grand-babies when I see them. Make sure the shoes as pure as gold are in place._

 

Bobbie from 7-Eleven waved at her through the window. She held up two sandwiches. Ham or Onion?

 

_The cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, the shoes as pure as gold --_

 

Piper raised up her right hand and waved. _Grilled cheese_ _, please!_

 

It was good to have a routine. Sometimes she felt like Bobbie from 7-Eleven and Alex from Donut King were NPCs in the video game of her life. They’d say _‘hello there, traveller, fancy seeing you here again!’_ and she’d pay them coins and they’d wish her well on her journey. And then she’d continue her quest, entering the premises of Brown Shoe Theatre. Fulfilling her role as the mighty stagehand. And repeat, for the next day.

 

“ _Booooooring_ ,” she could practically hear Leo teasing, just as he did the last time they spoke:

 

“Yeah, but it’s _my_ boring.”

 

“ _Exactly._ Which I’m super proud of, by the way. Look at you, making your own life and everything. Even if it _is_ filled with bad coffee and sticky stage floors. But, still. It’s what you always wanted, right? No prophecies, no gods…”

 

“Yet somehow I still get drama queens.”

 

“Oh, you can never escape the drama queens.”

 

“Any tips?”

 

“I dunno – throw a socket wrench at ‘em?” He winked. Leo shimmered in the Iris Message. “Seriously, though, Donut King for dinner? The Beauty Queen hath truly lost-eth her throne.”

 

And she liked it that way.

 

Piper snuck into the theatre right in the middle of the director scolding someone and snatching their bagel from their hand. “Okay, everyone, please, I’m issuing a ban, I’m making a new rule – new rule, everyone, come on, NEW RULE –”

 

The director banged her foot on the stage three times to catch everyone’s attention. Piper quickly stuffed her donut in her mouth before the purge.

 

“No more food after the first thirty minutes of rehearsal. This is for _everyone_ , including me. That means no more KFC, no more yoghurt, no more sushi, no more Subway. Eat before coming to rehearsal, or after.”

 

A collective groan filled the small theatre.

 

“What about drinks?” someone shouted.

 

“No.”

 

“Water?”

 

“ _Fine_.”

 

“But _why_ can’t we eat?”

 

The director pouted. “Because we don’t have the money to clean up any more lasagne stains, Alex May, unless you finally learned how to eat with your mouth closed --”

 

Piper chewed her donut into pieces and finally swallowed it, her sandwich next. She hopped up from her chair, leaving her bag under the seat. Pumped her arms a few times. A few other team members welcomed her with a wave or a pat on the back. ‘Sup Piper. Hey Piper. Piper, thank God you didn’t eat the onion bagel today.

_Food bans?_ Please. And Alex May really _did_ need to learn how to chew with her mouth closed. Piper walked past her stuffing noodles into her mouth before the director could catch her, and the pair made faces at each other.

 

“You got a little Singaporean there, Alex May.”

 

“Bite me.”

 

“Sounds too advanced for you.”

 

But before she could help everyone set up for Act One (the gold shoes, she had to remember), she had to go outside and fight a storm spirit.

 

After letting someone know she had to go pee (they just shrugged and let her go), she picked up her tote bag and headed to the back.

 

Pushing open the heavy stage-door, she was met with the cool Seattle air. Only one lamp-post lit the dim car park the stage-door led to. Five cars were parked there – almost all the drama students carpooled, or some of them took the bus like her. Not that she _considered_ herself a drama student, no, she was a ‘technical design’ student until she could figure out what she actually wanted to do.

 

Piper leaned against the dumpster. She looked down at her watch: 7:18. She had almost two minutes of quiet to herself before the spirits attacked. Piper fiddled with the plastic wrapper of her sandwich, stuffed quickly in her pocket because the Director also had a thing about rubbish bins –which was to _not_ have them, to promote less waste.

 

One year. One year she’d been here and she could finally say she was getting used to things. Getting used to the commute to the theatre. Getting used to the fact that she had anything to _do_ with theatre. Piper McLean? Stagehand? Rushing around, wearing all-black, yelling at the AD and actors for not leaving their props where they should be? Working on _Into The Woods_?

 

This time last year, she was fighting off Laistrygonian giants just to get here.

 

She looked at her watch again: 7:20.

 

The wind picked up around her, colder, harsher. Paper and twigs and leaves started rushing around in a whirlwind, aiming for her face and getting caught in her hair. She held up her elbow to her nose, narrowing her eyes. Her sword glimmered in her tote bag.

 

“ _DEMIGOD_ –” A voice screeched in the wind. The wind formed the face of a screaming woman, reaching out to her with claw-like hands. Piper ducked and rolled to the side, picking up her sword on the way.

 

“ _DEMIGOD –_ “ A deeper voice joined the mix. Piper’s hair blew into her face, her cheap elastic hairband breaking completely. Distracted, the male _ventus_ swiped across her face, grazing her cheek. Piper scowled at the sting.

 

“Huh,” she said, throwing her hair back so she could see again. “Aeolus actually came through.”

 

The wind stopped, collecting in one place, just outside of the lamp-post’s pool of light. Piper took out her dagger from her boot, her sword in her other hand, and she charged forward.

 

**

 

Two weeks later, at opening night, after Piper dealt with the next set of _venti_ Aeolus sent her, she had to deal with other evil spirits.

 

“You know what this reminds me of?” Neil, a stagehand, whispered to Piper’s ear, blocking his mic with his hand. Piper sighed as she went to block hers. “That scene in _Golden Throne Heroes_ where your dad faced off with the woman he loved after that huge misunderstanding?”

 

Piper tried not to make her grimace visible. Both of them were facing forward anyway, watching the musical from the wings.

 

“Miscommunication as a plot device is super annoying,” she murmured. “And over-done.” She paused, catching Neil’s slight frown. Piper sighed. “At least they make up. Too bad she dies.”

 

“Yeah, but, you gotta love the drama. Remember how when –”

 

“Do you have the beans ready?”

 

“Yeah, I do –”

 

“Do you have them on the front table or the back?”

 

“The back.”

 

“They’re supposed to be at the _front_.”

 

“ _What_ is going on here?” The director whispered harshly, pinching both of them on their arms. Neil barely stifled his yelp and Piper just glared. “Don’t test me, McLean,” the director warned, “Absolute _SILENCE_.”

 

“I’m _sorry_ , but it was –”

 

The director made a zipping motion so furiously Piper shut up immediately.

 

The confrontation scene finished, and the next scene began. Piper mouthed along to the words of the song. She stepped aside as the next scene’s actors rushed into the wings, preparing to go on stage. When one of the actors shoved against her elbow, she gasped at the sudden jolt of pain, gripping her arm immediately.

 

“Oh, my God, are you okay?” Alex May whispered, the other actors already rushing back onto the scene. The whisper **echoed** throughout the whole theatre and Piper thought she saw Alex May’s soul leave her entire body. The audience outside tittered.

 

Backstage, the director may have died too.

 

**

 

Three days later, during a rehearsal where Alex May somehow ripped her dress by just walking around, Piper had to deal with her again.  

 

“Looks like windburn.”

 

“What?”

 

“Your arm. Windburn. Or sunburn. But it’s been pretty cloudy, so…”

 

Piper furrowed her eyebrows, looking from pins and tools she had in her hand, to Alex standing up with her arm raised so the seamstress could fix the sleeve. She ignored her.

 

“Are you putting aloe on it?”

 

“We’re still talking about this?”

 

“I don’t think you could’ve gotten windburn from _me_.” Alex’s entire face seemed to droop with regret and shame. “My friends wouldn’t stop laughing about it.”

 

Piper sighed, resigned to her situation. “It wasn’t that bad.”

 

“Mariana’s plotting my death, I can feel it.”

 

“She won’t kill you, she’ll just punish you. Like me. I’m on Costumes now.”

 

“Gee, thanks,” the seamestress snorted. Alex gave her an apologetic smile. After holding out her arm to provide the seamstress with more pins, Piper caught Alex looking at her again. For five seconds, she had a good look at her. Alex had a kind and gentle face, one that seemed to apologise more than anything else. And her _eyes_ …any other time, Piper might have said they were a fascinating sort of striking, but right now they just felt intrusive. Alex May seemed to see more than she should.

 

_Please, don’t say anything. Just shut up. Just shut up._

 

“It looks like it’s getting worse,” Alex pointed out. “And on your face too, it’s a little red.”

 

“I...get a lot of wind where I live.”

 

**

 

Piper wrapped the towel into a twister around her head, making a face at Annabeth in the Iris Message. The daughter of Athena had her hair in a messy bun, a pen mark on her face that Piper still hadn’t pointed out yet. She could just vaguely make out the Athena cabin behind her.

 

“The Olympians want _another_ theatre,” Annabeth groaned, dragging her hands down her face.

 

Piper slicked moisturiser messily over her face. “ _Wow._ ”

 

“Any tips? From the greatest backstage crewperson of all time?”

 

“Make sure there’s enough space for everyone to walk around. And big backstage areas. Oh, and kitchens.”

 

“I don’t think they have kitchens on Olympus.”

 

“Can you just pull a Extreme Makeover on Brown Shoe?”

 

Annabeth did a dramatic gasp, her grey eyes widening. Leo never failed to make her laugh, but Annabeth never failed to make her really  _smile_. “You mean you _actually_ want me to come over?” Annabeth continued.

 

“You still _want_ to come over?”

 

“Yeah, I do! Come on, you went to my gallery thing last month.”

 

“You won’t even _see_ me on stage.”

 

“But the _principle_ of the thing is –”

 

Annabeth and Piper rattled on until it was well past midnight and Annabeth pointed out that Piper’s hair was probably going to be greasy and terrible now that it had been wrapped in the towel for several hours. Piper retaliated by saying she’d just cut her hair into a buzzcut.

 

She was sure that Iris was sick of their messages. She was willing to bet a thousand dollars, and even more drachmas, that most of the Iris messages over the past year had been between Piper and her friends. But it had been the only way she could reach her friends, when she was convinced they still missed her.

 

**

 

Leo balanced a tea-cup between two of his fingers and Piper counted the seconds until it fell.

 

“Can’t you just hold it properly, like a normal person?” Piper had her hand around the tiny-teacup like it was a beer glass.

 

“Oh, haven’t you heard? I’m a demigod.”

 

“It’s going to fall and you poured it to the brim. That’s burning hot tea.”

 

“There are literally so many memes I could say right now, you just set yourself up for failure. But fire cannot kill a –” Piper leaned forward to push the cup onto Leo’s lap, “ _HEY_ –”

 

There weren’t a lot of things in Seattle to show Leo around. He wanted to go see Tom Hanks’ boathouse from _Sleepless In Seattle_ and Piper had to tell him she didn’t think Tom Hanks even set foot on Seattle during the movie. They argued about which godly parent Tom Hanks would have (Leo said Apollo, Piper said Demeter). They visited the Museum of Pop Culture where Leo dramatically whispered _‘IT’S ART’_ at everything and both of them took selfies and photos and pretended they both had arty Instagram accounts to cater to.

 

“Shouldn’t a uni student have an Instagram account? To, like, post all your studying-not-studying photos and iced coffees?” Leo teased.

 

“You want me to get killed?”

 

“Well, it’s not like you’ve met any monsters lately, right? Monsters you would’ve told us about?” asked Leo, giving her a knowing look. Piper narrowed her eyes at him.

 

They went to the Space Needle and Leo marvelled over the views, while Piper kept an eye out for the empousa she knew liked to loiter around the Needle for visiting demigods like them. Today, they managed to go through the tourist spots unscathed.

 

She missed Leo. Part of her felt like she wasn’t really herself in Seattle, like she was intruding into someone else’s normal life for a second, possessing a Normal-Student-Piper’s body. And she didn’t like the comment Leo made about the _monsters_. She’d been under the impression that everyone back at camp believed she was living a relatively monster-free life. Seattle was free of monsters, as far as they were concerned. Being so close to Camp Jupiter, and then with Aeolus’ dominion stretching over to the western side of Canada now (though only Piper knew this), she could live the most normal life imaginable.

 

“You’d tell me if things were…weird, right?” Leo suddenly asked, just as they were walking to the train station. His day in Seattle had come to an end.

 

Piper took a deep breath and sighed, tucking one of her braids behind her ear. She smiled. “Depends on what you mean by weird.”

 

“Demigod-weird. Us-level-weird. The barista at Starbucks suddenly turning into a monster?”

 

“Oh, that happened last week, I should’ve told you.”

 

“ _Hey_.” Leo’s mouth twisted into an uncertain line. “I’m serious.”

 

Piper hesitated. But in the end, as with Annabeth, and as with Chiron who still checked in with her, and Hazel too, she told Leo that everything was fine. Only, unlike everyone else, Leo was the only one who didn’t seem to believe her. Annabeth had made sure, and checked in probably more than Leo did, but there was an unspoken agreement between the two girls to just  _trust_ what the other said. But to keep vigilant watch. Leo was different. Leo cared, more than Piper felt she deserved. Leo was  _Leo_. 

 

Lying to Leo had become almost second nature over the years, and it scared her. There was a time when Piper couldn’t keep her mouth shut about how she felt. Leo could open her emotional flood-gates faster than he could fix a clock. And she’d do the same for him. After the wars, after Jason, it became necessary. But with every shorter conversation they had, Piper felt herself stitch together tighter, preventing herself from spilling ever again, so that Leo wouldn’t have to clean up her messes.

 

The thought made her heart ache. She’d been using Leo like a mop, that’s what it was. That’s why it was better to push him away. He had done too much for her.

 

And the strange part was…everything _was_ fine. But maybe Piper’s standard of ‘fine’ had just changed over the years. The _venti_ Aeolus would send, she could handle that. She’d _made a deal_ with Aeolus about it. School was fine, she was staying on top of assignments. Even the musical was fine, the director and Neil and Alex May altogether. And it was fine because it was all on Piper’s terms. Nothing had happened yet that Piper hadn’t expected.

 

Everything _was_ fine.

  

**

 

“Pipes, you okay?”

 

She looked up to see Neil looking at her with concern. Piper pressed her lips together to a thin line. “I’m fine.”

 

He handed her the props in his arms. The show began in ten minutes. Piper winced as the weight of the hats and books and signs fell on her windburned arms. She was fine. More or less.

 

The opening scene went by, all the stagehands mouthing along the the words. They changed the scenery and the second scene happened. Neil and another stagehand mocked the over-the-top acting of the comic character. Everyone was fully aware of their mics, not speaking a word, _angrily_ gesturing when someone tried to speak to a mic’ed person. Alex May walked by Piper two times, one time trying to see her arm, and the next just smiling. Piper kept her tight-lipped smile the whole way through.

 

The last scene before the end of Act One was Piper’s favourite. This was the ‘here’s the happy ending don’t we all look happy? the end!’ musical number, with the soaring chorus and the grand solos, and then Act Two would come by with a ‘or _IS it_?’.

 

It was also the only scene she could completely enjoy. She usually missed most of the first Act  because of her scheduled rassles with the storm spirits, and by the time the end of the Act came about, her wounds generally felt better.

 

Piper stood back, the stage still in view as she leaned against the old brick wall of the theatre, content to just watch and have the music wash over her.

 

And then, an unscripted scream.

 

One of the actresses, in the middle of a ‘let’s be a happy family’ hug on stage, was pointing at the ceiling above the stage. The lights flickered. Everyone froze.

 

A loud whining, _creaking_ sound echoed around the theatre, and then one of the stagelights fell down right in front of the actors on stage. Wide-eyed, Piper pushed her forward in the wings. Then the wind picked up.

 

Five storm spirits, maybe six, burst through the roof, creating a mini cyclone in the theatre. Everyone screamed and ran, or in the case of the actors, tried to run, as their costumes got caught in the wind. Capes, dresses, and wigs flew up and everyone held on to each other as they shouted. Piper pushed through the crowd of stagehands and actors trying to exit both backstage and front. She shoved aside Neil, who crashed against a fire extinguisher but she didn’t have time to look behind.

 

The director seemed to be trying to get back to the stage, screaming about saving her actors, but the crowd was pushing her back. The AD was one of the people pulling her away. Piper’s panic grew. _Gods, what have I done?_

 

Finally reaching her bag, she took out Katoptris and her sword. She rushed back to the front, her heart pumping and her entire being _panicking_ as the screams got louder -- and then more screams joined in the fray. Eerie screams mixing with the wind. Metallic clashes, and then the sharper gusts of wind that Piper _knew_ only happened when a storm spirit disintegrated.

 

She thought of Leo. Did he actually stay? Did he call for reinforcements? Something like resentment began to grow in place of her fear, and she pushed past people rougher, more impatient, until there was no one left and she finally reached the wings.

 

The first thing she saw were imperial gold swords.

 

Piper paused at the wings.

 

The wielders were no one she recognised. Two fighters, a young man and woman, neither of them wearing the purple shirts. The way they fought was distinctly un-Roman, their fighting style seemed to be more _Greek_ , which Piper believed was just ‘stay alive, be crafty, and stab when you can’. She didn’t know _every_ Roman in Camp Jupiter or New Rome, but there was a certain style to the way they worked and moved, and this wasn’t it. And then she noticed their arms: neither of them had the SPQR tattoo.

 

She hid behind one of the curtains, unsure as to what to do. If they weren’t Romans, but they had the imperial gold swords, then that means they stole it from Camp Jupiter. Rogue...demigods? Assassins? Piper quickly looked again.

 

Neither of them wore Camp Half-Blood necklaces. Though she didn’t always wear her own necklace, and wasn’t wearing it now.

 

But they were killing the storm spirits. And _enjoying_ themselves, from the looks of it.

 

The young man shouted a war cry as he fought with two storm spirits at the same time. The storm spirits looked as confused as Piper felt.

 

“ _WHERE IS THE DEMIGOD?_ ” one of them screeched, and she recognised the voice as the female _ventus_ she fought a while ago. Reincarnated already?

 

The fighters didn’t answer. The young woman just continued to slash at the spirits, and they continued to scream frustration at her. One of them tumbled back in the air as they were defeated, bursting into the sharp winds that blew against the others on the stage. Piper’s eyes widened as she remembered:

 

The actors were huddled along the back wall, Alex May in the front with her arms spread across them. Everyone’s hair was in a mess, all in their costumes, their crazy makeup. She decided then and there that those fighters weren’t allies. She wasn’t prepared to trust them just yet, but she couldn’t just leave the actors there – not when most of them had no idea what was going on. Everyone was looking around wildly, unable to see the ugly faces of the monsters, only _feel_ the rough winds that tried to scratch at them – and the fighters who probably looked like they were waving around violins or baseball bats.

 

Piper prepared herself. Taking a few short breaths, like a runner preparing to sprint, she had her eye dead-set on the nearest _ventus_ , the _last_ one, which was getting closer and closer to the actors – until the woman fighter threw their sword at the _ventus_ , the blade piercing through their face, and it died on the spot.

 

The sword lodged itself into the wall, right above one of the actor’s heads.

 

Piper fumed, but for the first time in ages she was lost. Her brain suffered from an overload of information. She should say something, _do_ something, jump out of the curtains she was hiding in and stop them from doing _her_ job and –

 

“What the _HELL_?” the actor screamed, taking the words right out of Piper’s mouth. “What the _HELL_ is going on, why did you just _THROW_ that at me, what is _GOING ON_ –”

 

The woman fighter strode forward, and dislodged the sword. She jumped off the stage and landed on the floor with a heavy thud. The young man followed suit, but not without turning on his heel to speak to the actors with a salute: “ _Morituri te salutant_!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is my first work for AO3, so i'm still getting used to the posting format here, but i hope you enjoyed chapter one of 'for only the buried' !! 
> 
> me: says this includes spoilers from trials of apollo  
> also me: hasn't read trials of apollo
> 
> but im still in pain from those spoilers so
> 
> im still taking events from that series as canon (as much as i can anyway rip, riordan wikia is the bible). and i also haven't read the books in a while so i apologise in advance for any mistakes i might make ripriprpri
> 
> but i love these characters sm and their possibilities are endless, and i have a big plan for this story, so pls let me know what you think !! tysm !!


	2. Everything Was Not Fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where the mortals think they're superheroes.

Piper had enough sense to follow them as they left. She went out the back way, picking up her things, taking only one look back at the group of actors because she couldn’t handle answering questions if they wanted to ask them. What just happened? Why did this happen? Why was Piper just in the wings? What did she know about this? Why didn’t she stop this from happening in the first place? Piper couldn’t even answer these herself.

 

Outside, someone had called emergency services and they were just arriving to the scene. Mariana, the director, was speaking forcefully with a policeman. Mariana couldn’t really speak any other way. Ambulances came and went, depending on injuries – Piper was surprised to see that there were many. The exit she’d taken had been at the side of the theatre that _hadn’t_ collapsed. Well. The director had been looking for an excuse to renovate this whole time –

 

Piper stopped herself. She was already a block away from the theatre, the two fighters ahead of her, but she felt ashamed at her own train of thought. This was the university’s only theatre, the one Mariana had been working in for twenty years. When she wanted renovations, it was for the good of the theatre community. So they could eat properly without having the seats as the dining area. And she wanted a parking lot with better lighting, so the students felt safe walking out late at night. Piper frowned, clenching her fists in her hands. She made a mental note to help out with fixing the theatre, after she sorted out this first mess.

 

Thankful for the cover of night, she followed the fighters as they spoke, wishing, _hoping_ , they weren’t trained enough to notice she was there. It didn’t look like it. They carried on like two regular students who _hadn’t_ just fought a couple of storm spirits. The guy had taken out his sword, holding it against his shoulder as he strutted down the road, no one taking notice of him. The Mist shifted in Piper’s eyes: it _did_ look like a violin.

 

Now that she had a better look at them, she noticed the details in their clothes. Both of them wore jeans, jackets, inconspicuous on-trend shirts, but then what she thought was a fashion vest were actually rib protectors. Their knees and elbows had protective padding too. The girl had what looked like golf gloves, and the guy had wrappings around his hands like a boxer.

 

She made sure to keep at least half a block’s distance from them, not taking her eye off them for one second.

 

She followed them for almost thirty minutes. The pair stopped at a diner to buy food, and then went back to the diner after the girl realised she wanted ice-cream. They didn’t stop until they finally hit an apartment building, and Piper could no longer follow them inside. The building was old, paint peeling off the brick, and the glass of the windows in the tiny foyer were cracked. The foyer only had room for a wall of mailboxes, and then three doors. One of them had ‘BASEMENT’ on it, the other had ‘1’, and the other was an elevator, with the sign ‘NOT WORKING’. The fighters went up the flight of stairs in the back corner.

 

Piper hurried. She looked around either side of the building for fire-escapes, and saw the figures of the fighters moving up the stairs, their silhouettes lit dimly by staircase lights. Slinging her bag over her shoulder and hoping it wouldn’t fall, Piper climbed a dumpster and reached up for the apartment building’s fire-escape. She was surprised to find her body didn’t completely hate her as she pulled herself up with ease. Weeks of training by fighting against storm spirits had done her some good.

 

She paused again, sitting against a ledge to catch her breath.

 

No, it was _not_ good. Look at what she’d done. Look at what she’d brought upon an innocent theatre. An annoying theatre. But an innocent one, no less.

 

Piper huffed as she continued climbing, catching up to the floor that the fighters had stopped at. Fifth floor. She made sure to keep her movements slow so she wouldn’t cause any creaking noises on the fire-escape that looked like it could collapse any second.

 

She waited for them at the fire-escape window, not so grateful that it was thrown wide open. She had to press herself against the wall so they wouldn’t see her, as they flipped on the light and began to talk:

 

“Listen, next time it’s _my_ turn to say something – I thought we agreed we weren’t going to say anything at all,” said the girl. Piper heard the clang of the sword and sheath being laid on the kitchen table.

 

The guy laughed. “Yeah, but what’s the point of doing this whole thing if we can’t drop a line every now and then? You know – like a _catch-phrase_.”

 

“Something better than _Latin_.”

 

“Hey, Latin’s cool, did you see the look on their faces? Shock and awe, Mags. Shock and awe. They _respected_ us.”

 

There was a short pause. The clinking of glass. Pouring of water.

 

“But…do you think they’re okay?” the guy continued. “Should we…I dunno, stay a little longer? Make sure they’re all right and stuff? Answer their questions –”

 

“Maybe,” the girl, Mags, said. “We’ll just have to think about that more. How much we say, _what_ we say…”

 

“Batman never stayed to answer questions.”

 

Mags chuckled. “ _Superman_ did.”

 

“But we’re not trying to be Superman,” the guy pointed out. Piper’s lips twitched at the mention of Superman. “We don’t have that kind of luxury. Can’t just _fly off_ as soon as we’re done. We’re lucky no one got wise enough to follow us or something. Which means…”

 

“No, no, _no_ –”

 

The conversation moved to another room, but with no more fire-escape to go to, Piper just inched closer to the window, lifting it a little to still hear what was happening. So they were just _mortals_.

 

“…but I’m thinking if we’re gonna keep doing this, we should go public somehow,” the guy said. “Even just anonymously. Those things are out there and we can’t always be there to stop them, and if people at least _know_ that there are monsters –”

 

“Riley, that didn’t work _out_ well, the last time –”

 

“Are you talking about the video?”

 

Piper’s ears pricked up. A new voice. One she recognised. There was a pause, and her heart began to race.

 

“I told you I liked it.” Alex May. _Freaking_ Alex May. Piper’s hand gripped her dagger tighter. “And it’s a good way to honour him but Mags is right, we have to think about it more. And we have to time it right. We have to make sure that…that this is even a good thing to do.” Alex’s voice was coming closer to the kitchen, from whatever corner of the apartment she’d emerged from. Piper backed-up to her earlier hiding spot. “Maybe you can call your Grandpa. Ask his opinion.”

 

“What, seriously?” Riley grumbled.

 

All three voices were coming back to the kitchen now.

 

“What? _Nonno’s_ gonna say ‘no’, you know this. We’d have better luck talking to the Greeks about it.”

 

“Why don’t you ask the one in the window, then?”

 

**

 

After being dragged out of the fire-escape, scratching Riley in the arm with her dagger, kicking at Mags’ face, and dropping her tote bag in the sink, Piper could think of nothing but committing murder.

 

The three mortals had her tied up to the armchair in the lounge, an old leather one with a hole along the seat that had the foam poking through. Piper struggled against the ropes that kept her there. And the cloth around her mouth. She’d barely had enough time to speak before Alex covered Piper’s mouth with her hand.

 

She’d seemed to struggle with what to say, being the one to keep Piper’s mouth closed as they dragged her to the lounge. Alex decided on simply saying: “ _Sorry_.” She kept Piper down as Riley and Mags wrapped the ropes around her chest to the chair, and then her ankles to the short legs of the chair. At least her arms were still free. When everything was done, Riley and Mags sat on the long couch opposite her, but Alex May went back to the kitchen table, just a little behind the long couch, looking embarrassed.

 

She still had the regular clothes she had on for the day: a hoodie and track-pants, her already short, choppy hair pulled back with a hairband. It accentuated her face more, the sad look in her features as she watched Piper tied in the chair.

 

It was in stark contrast to the sharp, accusing look of Mags. Mags was tanned, with dyed-blonde hair, closer to gold than blonde, and she had it tied in a loose bun, strands of hair framing her sharp face. Riley had jet-black hair and lighter skin, with a long nose, freckles across his face, and thick eyebrows that took over his face and revealed exactly how he was feeling. Mags’ eyebrows were furrowed, analysing Piper, while Riley’s eyebrows were more relaxed, simply observing her. His eyes betrayed a slight twinkle; he found this _fascinating_. Piper noticed a bandage around his arm, where she’d scratched him with Katoptris.

 

And now all four faced each other.

 

“Alex says that you have this power,” Mags began, “that means you can manipulate people with your voice. Like a siren. So you understand why we…” she gestured at Piper’s covered mouth.

 

Piper shrugged.

 

“But we also know that kind of makes things difficult. Conversation-wise.” Riley looked to Mags and Alex, looking for confirmation. “So we’re gonna talk first. Explain ourselves. Let you know that we don’t mean you any harm.”

 

Piper snorted. When none of them continued talking, just waiting, she tilted her chin to point at Alex May.

 

Alex’s shoulders sank, shrinking into herself. Her shoulders already being so broad, it looked ridiculous in Piper’s eyes. She was _guilty_. Of course she should be ashamed. Piper didn’t know yet _what_ she was guilty of, but she would find out.

 

“I’m not a demigod,” was the first thing Alex said, her voice almost like a _squeak_. She cleared her throat. “None of us are. Except for the guy who raised Riley. But he’s not even here, so that doesn’t really count –” she stammered.

 

“He’s a legacy from Camp Jupiter,” Mags intervened, her voice calm compared to Alex’s jitters. “That’s how we know about all this stuff. He’s the one who gave us the swords.” She jutted her thumb behind her at the table, the shining imperial gold weapons in full display. Katoptris and her celestial bronze sword lay with them. “And he taught us a few moves before he got too old. But we don’t care about all that stuff. What we care about are _monsters_.”

 

“Monsters,” Riley echoed, smirking.

 

“Alex told us that you’d been fighting storm spirits at the back of Brown Shoe for the past couple of months. Is that true?” Mags asked, though she already knew the answer.

 

Piper was lost for words. Her brow creased in confusion, looking from Alex to Mags to Riley, and then back with a glare to Alex. A part of her screamed to blame Alex for everything, no matter how little sense that made. But she hated the idea of someone she knew being someone _else_. Someone more than who they were. Again, she was lied to.

 

Mags watched her carefully. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

 

“Piper, I’m _sorry_ , I didn’t mean to do anything bad – I just got worried, I saw you were getting more and more injured and I had a feeling the monsters would only get worse so I thought I’d call for some help –”

 

“I hope you know we paid for every single performance ticket,” Mags chuckled.

 

Riley nodded. “Yeah, we’re pretty much broke now. But the show’s good. The scene changes are _so_ fast and Alex makes a great Cinderella.”

 

Piper saw Alex brighten a little.

 

She didn’t know what to think. Relaxing in the chair a little she made an executive decision in her head that these people _weren’t_ dangerous. Just misguided. And making terrible decisions. She made a face, glad that half of it was covered behind the cloth around her mouth. But there were still so many things unanswered. Like _who_ they actually were. And who _Alex_ was. And how she knew Piper had charmspeak. And if this was somehow orchestrated by the gods.

 

Her resentment threatened to come back up again but she calmed herself by taking a deep breath. They were mortals. And if the gods were involved…it wasn’t their fault. In the same way that she and the others had never asked for this, these guys probably didn’t either.

 

She made a muffled sound to grab their attention again.

 

“Yes?” Riley whirled around, expecting Piper to say more. Piper rolled her eyes. “ _Oh_ ,” he said. “You promise not to do any more charmspeak?”

 

Piper nodded slowly.

 

Mags and Riley exchanged a look, a silent agreement occurring between them. And the sight of the two of them as a team, with Alex May sitting in the background, struck Piper as odd. Odd yet familiar. Mags came over to untie the cloth, and Piper immediately coughed, moving her mouth around and licking her lips.

 

“Jesus,” she coughed.

 

“You know, I’ve been wondering, is Jesus…?” Mags made a random motion with her hand.

 

“I honestly have no idea. Probably?”

 

“Cool.”

 

“Are you gonna untie me too?”

 

“Are you gonna _run_?”

 

“Depends. Can your face handle another kick?”

 

Mags smiled. They all agreed to untie Piper anyway. And Alex May was the one to offer her a glass of water with a straw, and also a tube of Vaseline. “Just to make it easier,” she mumbled, before sitting back down next to Riley and Mags.

 

The four of them sat in silence as Piper drank the water, and took a small bit of Vaseline to slide across her lips.

 

“…so…to be fair…” Piper began, slowly, “I literally have no idea what’s going on. I’m sorry if I hurt you. But… _honestly_. What’s happening? How did you know I was attacking storm spirits? What were you doing the whole time we knew each other, were you just _waiting_ to let me know you were some…some monster-hunter?” All her questions had been aimed at Alex May. Though Riley and Mags had already shown themselves to be the ones ready for a real discussion, Alex was still the only one she knew.

 

“I…um…” Alex sat with her knees close together, in-between Riley and Mags. The pair looked as if they were waiting for Alex to answer before they did. “No, I didn’t mean to do anything. I mean, we were already in the middle of rehearsals, _way_ in the middle when I noticed you were going out the back door a lot. I thought you were just smoking,” she added, awkward. “But then you had your jacket off one day and I noticed the windburns.”

 

All four of them looked at Piper’s arms, still covered by the sleeves of her jacket.

 

“And I just naturally thought you were a demigod. And we already knew about Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood. We were thinking about which one you might be, and we all settled on the Greek one because Romans don’t usually go out of the Roman camp. Except for Scott,” Alex added, tilting her head towards Riley. “People like us are rare, anyway. So…it just made sense that you were a demigod.”

 

Piper didn’t believe her. That much was certain from her facial expression. There was still the matter of her knowing about charmspeak. She didn’t think they were naïve enough to believe every demigod had that power. And how Alex knew that Piper was in the fire-escape (though that could’ve just been Piper’s rusty espionage skills). For now, she let it be.

 

“Okay. And you can see the monsters, right? Who’s actually somehow connected to the gods? Blood-wise?” she added, looking at each of them in turn.

 

Mags lifted her head a little. “All of us are mortal. No families with gods or demigods or anything like that. But Scott – Riley’s grandpa, sort of – he explained something about a Mist thing. And how we can see through them.”

 

Like Rachel Elizabeth Dare. “Clear Sight. You guys are Clear Sighted.”

 

“Yes. Exactly,” Riley smiled. “And we’ve been fighting monsters ever since.”

 

Ever since what, Riley didn’t explain. _Another_ thing for Piper to remember for later.

 

The conversation continued for another hour. They asked questions about the monsters she’d fought, the adventures she’d been on (she kept them vague), and then eventually asked who her godly parent was if she was a demigod. Piper hesitated then, knowing she had an option to lie, or to even go as far as to say she was _unclaimed_. But she knew the wrath and pride of her mother would eventually get back to her later. So she told the truth.

 

The trio’s mouths dropped in surprise, and Piper couldn’t help but feel amused.

 

It was different being in the presence of people who _knew_ about the world of the demigods, but weren’t actually active participants in it. Sort of. Piper still couldn’t believe they willingly went out of the way to fight monsters. There had to be some kind of story behind that, but they weren’t _buddy-buddy_ enough for that. Not yet.

 

Mags showed her the imperial gold swords. They were roughly the same design as she’d seen the weapons the Romans used, similar to Jason’s sword, though the hilt showed age and the gold didn’t gleam as much. Later, before everyone went to bed, Piper would see Riley and Mags polishing the swords over the kitchen table, huddled together and speaking in low voices. She figured out that they were together quite quickly.

 

Mags then showed her the closet were they kept the sports padding they wore to go out fighting. There were three masks and coloured jackets that Piper spotted, pushed to the back of the shelf, but she didn’t pointed them out. Everything was explained. What they used to fight with, when they went out to do it, how they found the monsters. It was Riley and Mags who fought the empousai Piper had kept an eye out for, when she was at the Space Needle with Leo. The pair had caught them in broad daylight, and fought them in an alley.

 

Photos decorated the old, fading walls of the apartment. They were all roughly the same age, as far as Piper could tell. She knew Alex May was her age. And Riley was twenty-four, while Mags was twenty-three. There had to be _some_ effort put into printing out and framing the newer photos. The trio in different spots around Seattle. The trio posing with an elderly man in a bar, who she assumed was Scott, the old legacy from Camp Jupiter. Even in the photo, she could see he had piercing, blue eyes, and his white hair was cropped short. Like Jason. In fact, if she allowed herself to imagine it, she could see Scott as an older Jason, his arms around three young warriors, training the next generation.

 

She looked at that photo longer than the rest, and there were other things to see around the apartment. Medals and trophies of Mags in martial arts competitions. Riley as a baseball player. None of Alex in the trophies. Alex, it seemed, catered to the music of the apartment. Her space on the shelves were filled with CDs, tapes, and vinyls. Also movies. Piper saw a few McLean movies, the older ones, scattered here and there. Alex never bothered her about her father, not like Neil did. The thought made her lips twitch, too tired to smile completely.

 

Too tired to do _anything_ seemed to be the reality for Piper, as her tour of the apartment came to an end, and the trio looked to her to decide what to do.

 

Bring them to Camp Jupiter? Or Camp Half-Blood? The Waystation?

 

Piper couldn’t even decide if the apartment was safe – a worry quickly fixed by Mags, as the stale stink of the building and the neighbourhood generally protected them, and they were mortals in the first place.

 

As there were only two bedrooms, the offer was made for Piper to sleep in Alex’s bedroom while Alex slept outside but Piper insisted on the opposite.

 

Under the pillow on the couch, Piper kept Katoptris. But before she could go to sleep, she wanted to wash her face and brush her teeth, to have _some_ sense of normalcy and routine, after her life was flipped upside down yet again.

 

In the bathroom, Alex May waited behind her to use the sink.

 

“Piper…” she began, in a quiet voice. “I’m sorry if…I don’t even know what to say, but I’m sorry.”

 

Piper used her mouth gargling to buy her some time, and when she finally spat out the water and dried her face with a towel, thirty seconds had gone by since Alex spoke. Piper just nodded.

 

“It’s okay. I get it. This kind of life…you keep secrets.” She paused. “I guess I just…didn’t expect anyone else to be keeping the secret too.”

 

Alex seemed to lift a little after that. “But I’m glad. I’m glad we know each other. And Mags and Riley. We’re not alone.”

 

But as much as Alex meant for that to sound assuring, Piper was on-edge the whole night.

 

First of all, Riley snored. And she didn’t know how Mags dealt with it, sleeping next to him. The blanket was warm and soft, but this part of town was noisier than her student dorms. She flinched when she heard the wail of police sirens go by. And she was still thinking.

 

The clock on the wall ticked by until it was two in the morning, and Piper still couldn’t sleep. Her mind had been racing with plans: she could call for Annabeth, and ask for advice on what to do. Camp Jupiter was the closest, but she didn’t know yet the history of Scott with the camp, and that may be bad blood she didn’t want to bring up again. And they were _mortals_. She couldn’t forget that. They weren’t _demigods_ , they weren’t cursed to live their whole lives looking over their shoulders, always on the move, waiting to die by the hand of some pissed immortal – no, they _chose_ this life.

 

And for what? To save people, it seemed.

 

Piper stared at the ceiling.

 

She turned to her side, burying her cheek in the pillow. She moved her arms around to try and get comfortable, and then settled for one arm lying under her pillow – and she touched Katoptris. Ten seconds passed, then she took out the dagger and looked into the blade:

 

_The rose window of the Waystation shattering with a baseball bat. Rachel Elizabeth Dare screaming, eyes glowing green, with Alex May and Piper standing in front of her. Alex May crouching by a river in darkness. The darkness creeping up, turning into a cloud, a dark mist, a body rising from it. And then a man across the river, tall and broad-chested, looking straight at Piper, shaking his head._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i felt the first chapter was so heavy with the run-down on piper's life so far, i tried to focus this chapter on just ONE thing. hopefully it isn't too dense! but here we have introductions to three main original characters!
> 
> after reading what happened to piper in the trials of apollo, i was really interested in exploring how that affected her mindset, and her feelings towards her world. i also remember reading in her wikia page that piper was considered the most compassionate of the group -- so exploring how that changes, or stays the same, is also super interesting for me hfvbkerhj
> 
> i hope i'm doing piper justice so far. more chapters to come !!


	3. Us And The Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Piper feels almost normal.

"And take out the rubbish on your way out, will you?"

 

Piper turned around, duffle-bag in hand. She rolled her eyes at her soon-to-be  **ex** -roommate. The last thing she expected when sneaking into her dorm was to be caught. And the other last thing was to have her dorm-mate not care at all. She was practically  _inviting_  her to go.

 

"Are you serious?" she asked.

 

The ex-roommate shrugged. She didn't look up from her video-game. "Yeah."

 

"Jeez, fine." Piper reached out to pick up the rubbish, but Riley grabbed it for her, showing a friendly smile as he did. He tossed it to Alex, who elbowed him. Mags elbowed  _both_  of them.

 

Well, she'd have the whole dorm to herself, Piper thought, barely hiding her scowl. Of course she'd be eager for Piper to go. And with all the late-nights spent in their tiny ensuite bathroom doing her Iris Messages, and Piper had practically turned nocturnal over the past year, on her laptop working or just watching Youtube videos until three in the morning, and the passive-aggressive comments about how messy the room was – she had to admit she was actually a terrible roommate.

_Yeah_. Yeah, she couldn't blame her for wanting Piper to leave.

 

"And McLean –"

 

" _Yes_?"

 

There was a pause. The two ex-roommates stared at each other for a good five seconds. The girl seemed to be thinking about what to say, whether she  _should_  say anything. And then:

 

"Feel free to take the cake with you." She pointed at the cake in the kitchenette. "Never really liked chocolate."

 

Riley beamed. He moved to pick up the cake, but Piper ushered him out with her foot, picking up the cake herself with her one free hand. And before they could meet any of her classmates and ask to stick around again, she continued to usher them out until they were completely off-campus.

 

The  _team_. Piper ended up calling them the 'team' after realising that was better than saying 'Alex May, Riley, and Mags' in her head all the time.

 

"So your roommate's Australian?" Riley asked, mouth full of chocolate cake.

 

Piper shrugged. "Probably."

 

"I think she's Australian."

 

"What gave it away, Riles?" Mags asked, faking innocence. "The accent? The suntan? The fact that she called her flip-flops 'thongs'?"

 

" _That's_  what she meant? When she said to find her ' _thongs_ ' for her, I legit almost screamed –"

 

"It's true, I heard him," Alex laughed. "There was a tiny little scream in his throat, a little squeak thing, just like right here –" She poked Riley's neck and he swatted her hand away.

 

The team was inseparable. Piper didn't know if she was supposed to feel annoyed, jealous, or just nostalgic. But, as a breath of fresh air, they were completely carefree as they walked around town picking up last-minute things and laughing and talking as they went.

 

Mags bought an iced coffee at a Starbucks. No concerns about whether there were any monsters there. She just walked in.

 

Riley scooped out bits of cake with the plastic fork her ex-roommate provided, feeding Mags and Alex as they walked. They walked so slowly, they were practically walking targets. He and Alex argued over whether they should spend grocery money on buying baking supplies when they didn't even know where they were going, and how long they were staying at the apartment before they left. They hadn't decided yet what their next course of action was, and it didn't seem like they were too worried about it.

 

The trio had a mix of constant vigilance and 'you only live once' energy that struck Piper as reckless but also  _really nice_  at the same time. A glimpse at the kind of life she and her friends could have, away from the craziness of the gods and the camps.

_Nothing but us and the monsters_ , Piper thought. She watched the three of them walking ahead of her, sharing Mags' iced coffee. A couple of times Alex May looked back at her, with her lopsided smile. When it was Alex's turn to have the iced coffee, she held it out to Piper. And Piper, deciding that it wouldn't be so bad, jogged ahead to take a short sip.

 

For two days, Piper lived with them in their apartment, all of them waiting for her to decide what to do next - if there  _was_  something to do.

 

"Why can't we just stay here?" asked Mags.

 

"Because she said it was getting dangerous," answered Riley. "Those monsters - the storm spirits - now that they know there's a group of us, they'll probably start to look for us."

 

"Exactly. And, anyway, there's not much else to do here. I've been looking for an excuse to drop out of school," Alex said. Piper guessed she was only  _half_  joking. Mags was frowning, her arms crossed over her chest. "And now that the musical's done, there really is nothing left to do. Besides. Don't we owe it to ourselves to see those other places? To actually go to Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood? And that train station Piper mentioned? We could offer our help, what we know of the outside world and stuff." She turned to look at Piper, who was lounging along the couch, and smiled at her. Piper couldn't help but smile back.

 

Alex's excitement was infectious.

 

The more time they spent together (she was actually starting to call it  _together_ , not just 'we're in the same physical space'), the more Piper was seeing the less meek side of Alex again. The Alex May that ate food as much as possible, and got in trouble once for leaving chocolate in the pockets of her costume. The Alex May that also got in trouble for napping too much during rehearsals (they couldn't wake up her until someone blew a trumpet in her ear, and Piper had that glorious job one fine afternoon).

 

Two days turned into four, and most of what she saw of Alex outside of mealtimes and outings was after her naps, with her hair sticking out in different angles and her tall figure hunched over, long arms stretching up as she yawned. The amount of times Piper saw Alex's hand hit the old chandelier in the lounge was already making her laugh.

 

"Giraffe," she'd called out once.

 

Alex yawned, heading to the kitchen. "Sloth."

 

"What are you, six foot blind?" When there was no response, Piper tried again. "Brontosaurus."

 

After three seconds, Alex responded: "Velociraptor."

 

" _Gosh_ , I'm surprised you know a word that long."

 

There was a clatter of a bowl in the sink. "You know  _what_ –"

 

Piper was almost beginning to actually enjoy Alex May's company.

_Almost_. The word kept popping up in her head as she thought of the new 'team'. They were almost normal, she was almost honest, they were almost safe. She still had Katoptris under her pillow. But she stopped looking for the future when she couldn't sleep, especially since she couldn't forget the last future she'd seen.

_The Waystation. Rachel Elizabeth Dare. The river. Alex May. The darkness. The man._

 

The morning after she dreamed that, she decided they would avoid going to the Waystation at all costs. She wouldn't risk the safety of the sanctuary like that. Which left the two Camps. Who would understand more? Reyna or Annabeth?

 

Which would the team prefer, anyway?

 

"Camp Half-blood," said Riley and Alex in unison.  **Day five**  in the apartment, and Piper was getting used to asking random questions at random times. The trio always seemed up for them. Last time it was Mags randomly shouting 'what's for dinner?' into the silence, and all three of them shouted something different, from their corners of the apartment (Piper: leftovers, Riley: burritos, Alex: pizza).

 

Mags sighed. "We're not even going to think about this? Camp Jupiter is the closest to us and we already have a connection with Scott - you could go visit him in San Francisco!" she gestured at Riley. Riley shook his head.

 

Which left just the river and Alex May. And Rachel Elizabeth Dare. There was no way of knowing what would trigger the Oracle to react in that way. Was it because of Alex or Piper, or something else entirely? Something the dagger didn't show her…?

 

And then the man. Piper's head was about to explode. It was better when she had  ** _her_**  team with her. Annabeth would know a hundred myths off the bat, if she described him to her. Leo would be able to figure out something to save the Waystation. Percy would discuss with Rachel – Rachel would actually  _be_  there. Suddenly, she regretted telling everyone she could no longer make those monthly  _Argo II_  reunions. Aside from IM'ing Annabeth and Leo, she hadn't seen the rest in a little over a year. And she hadn't stepped foot on the  _Argo II_ in more than that, remembering its scattered remains after Gaea. She missed that old thing.

 

And she regretted leaving camp like she did.

 

"I have to go," Piper said, already halfway out the door.

 

Alex May sat up on the couch. "What, why? Where?"

 

"Just someplace."

 

"Oh." Alex struggled with what to say. Piper stayed, just to hear what she'd come up with. Alex was standing in the middle of the apartment, hands on her hips, looking from the ground to Piper.

 

"Piper -"

 

"Alex, you know you can't make me stay."

 

"No, but I think it'd be a good idea for us to know where everyone is. In case something happens."

 

"We're all trained. What could happen?" Piper arched an eyebrow.

 

"Actually, I'm – I'm not that trained."

 

"You'll be okay.  _I'll_  be okay. I'll be back soon."

 

"But what if -"

 

The door slammed shut. Piper waited in the hallway to see if someone was going to follow her but instead she heard them talking.

 

"Where -? Where is she going?  _Where_  is she going, Mags?"

 

So only when she's  _not_  in the room does Alex grow a backbone. Piper pursed her lips.

 

"I don't know."

 

"Why does she have to be so secretive like that?" asked Alex.

 

"Alex, dude, just let her do whatever she wants," said Riley, "she's the most competent person out of all of us —"

 

"Excuse me?" Mags intervened.

 

"...like I said, the most competent person out of all of us, and if anyone has a right to going out mysteriously and not telling anyone where she's going  _or_  when she's coming back, then it's her. Just gotta have a little faith."

 

Piper didn't care. By the time they went to look for her, she would already be on a plane, halfway to New York.

 

**

 

She didn't like to do this but she had no choice. Piper closed her eyes.

_Mother, please let me fly on this plane safely. Don't let Zeus zap me out of the sky. Or Aeolus, he might be mad. Please just let me survive one thing. One freakin' thing._

 

Piper opened her eyes. There was no whiff of Chanel No. 5 in the area, no floaty music, or the air suddenly feeling lighter. No one swooning anywhere.

_Screw this._

 

Aphrodite usually made her entrances grand like that, but today she was met with nothing but a crying baby and the drone of airport announcements.  _Now boarding, for Gate 3, now boarding for Gate 3. Can a Mr Chang and a Miss Willis come over to Gate 4 for boarding, as Air Philippines is about to depart._  The baby cried louder.

 

If monsters attacked her now, she would welcome it.

 

She leaned back in the stiff seat, her duffle bag on the seat next to her. Her eyelids felt heavy with exhaustion, but she fought it for a good five minutes. This was  _not_  the place to sleep, this was  _not_  the place to let her guard down...but her eyes felt so heavy, and the sun was actually nice shining through the window, like a blanket, keeping her warm…

 

" _PIPER_."

 

Doors burst open and Piper jolted out of her sleep. She blinked to get rid of the spots in her eyes and she saw Alex May marching towards her, furious, with Riley and Mags not far behind. They'd burst through maintenance doors, straight into the terminal.

 

"Oh, my God, I am so sorry —" Riley was explaining to concerned people, "— it's her first day working."

 

"All of us! First day, wow, this orientation's been crazy -" Mags piped in.

 

"— I heard last year's people had to go through a murder-mystery sort of thing just to pass —"

 

"But the buffet's gonna be great, if we  _all_ ," Mags rushed forward, gritting her teeth, grabbing Alex's arm, " _calm down and follow the rules_  —"

 

" _Piper_ ," Alex said again, quieter this time and visibly flustered at being so loud the first time. She stopped in front of Piper, setting her gaze straight on her. Surprisingly, even when Piper glared back, she didn't back down. But she did lower her voice and sit on the free seat next to her. "Listen, man, you can't just  _leave_. You have no idea what's happening and – and we  _need_  you. And you need  _us_."

 

Piper looked around. Only a few of the passengers were still looking at them, curious at the altercation, but everyone else had gone back to what they were doing before. Phones and iPads. She gave Mags and Riley a look but they just shrugged, pointing at Alex May.

 

"It's nothing personal," Piper started explaining, keeping her voice low. "I just realised what the best thing we can do is and —"

 

"—you didn't think to fill us in?" Alex frowned.

 

" _And_  the best thing is for me to just leave. Haven't you figured it out yet? I'm the only demigod. You're all mortals. Monsters aren't gonna  _go_  for you, because there isn't much  _ichor_  left in your blood. If they go after you, it's because of  _me_. You didn't need a game plan, guys, you were fine the way you were." She paused, so it would sink in. Alex's brow was creased. It didn't look like they were agreeing with what she said but she  _refused_  to use charmspeak until it was the absolute last resort. And anyway. She'd already promised she wouldn't. She looked away from Alex, her guilt seemed worse when she looked at her.

 

Piper kept going. "And if anyone comes after you, you can take care of them, right? And – and if it gets worse, I'll talk to my friends, we could probably send a satyr to help you, or you could just head to Camp Jupiter by yourself. Talk to your grandpa." She looked to Riley who, up until now, was listening calmly, but the mention of his grandfather made his face harden a little. Okay, Piper thought, looking away,  _don't_ mention the grandfather anymore. Noted.

 

The explanation wasn't going down as good as she expected. Time for a new tactic.

 

"And, honestly…I'm a little like you, Alex, I've been looking for an excuse to leave. Not to leave  _you_  – and Riley and Mags," she added, "but to leave Seattle. I tried school and it didn't work out. It's time for me to go back home."

 

Piper didn't realise how true that was until she'd actually said it. Home wasn't Oklahoma with her dad, not really. Home was her  _friends_ , and Camp Half-Blood.

 

Alex took a while to reply. She looked to Riley and Mags, and the two nodded at each other, Riley tugging on Mags' sleeve to sit somewhere else, leaving the two alone.

 

"I just – I thought we were working together. All four of us. We were going to be a team, and work this out together."

 

"But that's the thing. I'm not the only one keeping secrets here. You guys are – you're acting like there's something big going on, but did I miss it?" Piper asked, genuinely baffled. "You haven't said anything this entire week. All I know is you guys are like indie monster-hunters and you've been doing fine without me, so why does it matter if I stay or leave?"

 

Alex looked down at her lap, twiddling her fingers together. Piper had a thought, but she didn't want that to be true. She couldn't handle  _that_  reason. But maybe –

 

No. Not now.

 

Was this Aphrodite's answer to her?

 

"Because…because I've been having dreams," Alex whispered, leaning her head forward just a little, so no one but Piper could hear. "It has all of us in it, all these different dreams, and I've been having them for ages and I thought we could all go to Camp Half-Blood so I – so I could figure it out."

 

Piper blinked. "Why didn't you say this before?" She couldn't help the slight annoyance in her voice. "Why are you only saying this now?"

 

Alex's eyes flared. "Because I thought we were all doing this  _together_  –"

****

**_CRASH_**.

 

The windows across them in the airport terminal shattered as something – or some _things_  - swung in. The first thing Piper saw was a dark cloud, and her stomach dropped. Was it already starting  _now_? She scrambled around to take out her sword and dagger, already pushing Alex to the ground as the cloud started gathering above them, creating such a loud noise that it made Piper wince.

_CAW – CAW – CAW –_

 

"BIRDS?" Alex shouted over the din.

 

Piper kept Alex's head down, but looked up to see better. One of the birds flew past her, and in a split second, she looked into the sharp red eyes, the blood caking the edge of its beak –

 

"Stymphalian Birds –"

 

" _WHAT_?"

 

" _Alex_!" she exclaimed. "Jesus, just stay  _down_  –"

 

Another  ** _CRASH_**. Two large figures crawled through the open windows conveniently created by the cloud of Stymphalian birds. Half the people had already left the terminal, but the birds were following them to all corners of the airport. The only people remaining were the ones injured, unable to move, and some security guards and first aid people. Already busy at work, all of them horrified at the sight of the two giants.

 

Then she heard a soft cry, and Piper looked to the side: the crying baby, lying down with glass around her, and her two parents huddled over her, protecting her from sight. One of them had blood on his forehead. Piper paled.

 

The giants stomped around, further into the terminal.

 

"Aw, look, Jutt. The birdies prepared it all for us," the widest one said, grinning as he rubbed his hands together.

 

"All the peoples off to fly, Bill – well, they'll be flying off into me stomach, that's for sure," Jutt roared with laughter. Bill picked up an aisle of seats and began swinging it around.

 

Alex went to lift her head again, but Piper forced her down. They were still hidden behind the row of seats in their side of the terminal, but directly opposite the giants and in their line of sight. Riley and Mags were closer to them, but hidden behind their own aisle of chairs. Piper caught Mags' gaze and she nodded at her. Her imperial gold sword was already in her hand and she was talking with Riley, pointing and gesturing her plan.

 

"Alex, I'm  _telling_  you," Piper said through gritted teeth. "Stay down and I'll take care of this."

 

" _Piper_  –" Alex protested.

 

" _PIPER, WATCH OUT_ —" Mags screamed.

 

She looked up just in time to see the aisle of chairs being hurled towards her.


	4. Happens All The Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Piper feels lost, and goes home.

_Piper. Piper, baby, you gotta get up._

 

She tried to blink one eye open. The bleary image of a blonde looking down at her filled her vision. Her eyes fell shut. Gods, her head hurt.

 

_Honey, come on. You’re gonna miss it._

 

At those words, Piper’s eyes flew open. And she immediately regretted it.

 

She felt her head leaning against something – no, she was lying flat on the ground, unable to _lift_ her head. The edge of a seat was on her forehead, keeping her head down. Something else felt like it was stabbing into her stomach – one of the armrests of the chairs. And it also felt cool around her head, the same feeling when cold air blew against water on your body, but she was willing to bet that her head wasn’t covered in some nice water-fountain water. _Nah_. She could smell the blood from here.

 

Piper blinked her eyes a couple of times, willing her vision to clear.

 

The Laistrygonian giant (the one named _Bill_ ) had thrown his aisle of chairs at her, and it rolled against the floor, sweeping up the other chairs until it created a _WAVE_ of debris that fell on top of her and Alex May. And then the ceiling caved in. And she could hear the birds squawking above them, coming to feed on their carcasses. Her and Alex May. Wait.  _Alex_ –

 

“Alex –” she called out, coughing. “ _Alex_ –”

 

“Oi, Billy, lookie here! One of them’s alive!” Jutt the Giant shouted.

 

_One?_

 

“Little busy over here, Jutt!”

 

Piper recognised Riley’s unmistakeable war cry, and the rumbling grunt of the giant as they fought.

 

The panic returned. Piper gave a strangled cry as she tried to move her head, burning her the skin of her forehead against the rough fabric of the seat on top of her. She managed to move an inch to the left, and then an agonising two inches to the right. Nothing to be seen.

 

“ _Alex_ – Alex, come _on_ –”

 

The mountain of debris shifted.

 

A single chair at the top rolled down the side. Dust from the ceiling panels began to shake down, and Piper turned her head so it wouldn’t get in her eyes. She coughed. The chairs on top of her moved enough so her arms could slip out, and she took a deep breath, the pressure off her chest. But her legs were still stuck.

 

Looking to the side, she could see her dagger just a few feet from her. Her sword, nowhere to be seen.

 

Piper reached out for Katoptris. “Come on – Come _on_ –”

 

The tip of her finger touched the hilt, and her vision _flashed_ with the face of the man again. The very same man from her dreams, looking straight at her once more. She’d never seen a vision without having to look at the blade.

 

The debris rumbled again. Piper held her arms over her head, preparing for the worst. The rumbling continued, but things began to fall away, lifted _off_ Piper, so nothing trapped her now. There was a hole in the mountain of debris, showering Piper in daylight as she inched herself away from the pile. Sunshine flooded her eyes. She wiggled her legs a bit to test for any injuries, picked up Katoptris, and then held her hand over her eyes like a visor to see against the sun. To see where the giants were, to see how Riley and Mags were doing, and the crying baby, to find her sword, to plan what she could do with all the jolting pain in her body and a bleeding head, and –

 

And there was Alex May.

 

Alex May, who stood before her, her arms and back supporting the debris as she lifted it up. Alex May, who, for _one_ second, looked at her with that apologetic expression she’d gotten so used to, before her face became something unreadable. Something _serious_ , her gaze dead-set on what was in front of her.

 

With the bright light behind her, it almost looked like she was _glowing_.

 

Alex was careful to move the debris so it wouldn’t crash on top of Piper.

 

“ _What_ …” Piper whispered to herself, crawling back a few more inches, still staring at Alex.

 

She could see her sword now, right at her feet, and Alex went to pick it up. “I’ll just –” she started saying, “I’ll just borrow this, I’ll give it back to you, I promise.”

 

Piper’s jaw dropped. Her grip tightened around Katoptris just to hold on to something _real_ , something she was _sure_ about, and then she backed up as far as she could, stunned as she watched Alex go. She heard Riley and Mags’ voices calling out to her, and then two figures at the edge of her vision crowding around her, asking if she was okay, and did she need anything, and how was her head, and they would get something to stop the bleeding – but all she could see was Alex.

 

Behind her, the sunset only seemed to shine more and more.

 

The window that the monsters crashed through directly faced the horizon, so they and Alex May were washed in oranges and yellows. It was the kind of scene she’d expect painted on a Grecian urn. The hero rushing towards them, sword in hand. The monsters roaring, rearing to meet them. A scene immortalised in clay and stone.

 

On her way to the giants, Alex was already slashing at some of the birds with her sword, leaping up into the air – more than any human should be able to – and killing them mid-flight.

 

She ran up to Jutt the Giant and dodged his swinging iron club, as if she saw it coming from a mile off. Alex leapt up, too fast and light for the giant. Using his arm as a step, she launched herself up to pierce Piper’s sword through his back, stabbing his heart from behind. The giant burst into dark dust, his club disappearing with him, already on his way to Tartarus.

 

Alex jumped to the ground, landing on one knee next to Bill.

 

Mags gasped. “ _Superhero landing_.”

 

Bill, shocked and mad at the quick loss of his companion, roared so loud that the windows shook and the birds flying overhead _cawed_ and cried in a frenzy. Most of them began to fly out. Fuming, Bill tried to grab Alex, but she simply ducked her head and then held onto Bill’s arm as it swung upward, bringing her along with it. He didn’t have an iron club, but his hands were still dangerous as he tried to grab her. She stabbed his hand every time he tried. Bill screamed in frustration, trying to grab at her again with his other hand, and she climbed up, standing up with one foot on each of his shoulders, holding onto his hair like they were reins. She pulled on his hair to get his attention. The giant screamed.

 

“ _What are you doing here_?” Alex demanded, pulling on his hair.

 

“ _I AIN’T SAYING NOTHING –”_

Alex placed the sword against Bill’s throat.

 

“ _YOU’LL HAVE TO KILL ME, I AIN’T SAYING NOTHING –”_

She dug in the blade to his skin.

 

“ _COR -- I’LL SAY SOMETHING – I’LL SAY SOMETHING –”_

He lowered his hands as if in a surrender, cowering under the girl standing on his shoulders. The birds began to circle him, and he swatted them away. When Alex glanced at them, the birds screamed, scaring themselves.

 

“I’ll let you go if you answer my questions,” Alex said.

 

Piper groaned as she tried to get up. She needed to _stop_ her right there.

 

“All right, all right, I’ll answer ‘em, I swear, I’ll answer – just let go of me _hair_ –”

 

Alex blinked, as if remembering she just had the giant’s head in a vice-grip, and a sword at his throat. “Right – sorry –” She lifted the blade but still kept a hold of Bill’s hair. Bill stomped around, breathing a sigh of relief, but he was puzzled.

 

“ _Sorry_?” Bill echoed. He squinted one eye at her, trying to look up. Alex balanced herself as he leaned back. He scratched his chest. “Did ye just say _sorry_ at me?”

 

Piper got on her knees. Mags’ eyes widened. “What, you wanna go over there?”

 

“She can’t – she can’t let him go –” Piper wheezed, gripping her stomach.

 

“I ain’t never had nobody say sorry at me –” The giant continued.

 

“Well – um –” Alex stammered, the glow of the hero fading the more she hesitated. “Well, _everyone_ should say sorry. _You_ should say sorry too.”

 

“What’s that got to do with killing? We ain’t supposed to be talking like this, it’s not proper.”

 

“But I _need_ to talk, you’re still going to tell me what I need to know –” Alex began to pull on his hair again.

 

“OKAY! Okay, okay, all right, I’ll _talk_.” He sniffed. “Let go of me hair. Who do you think you are, anyways?”

 

Alex let go. “Sorry. I’m A-Alex May.”

 

“Oh, yeah? Well, _A-Alex_ May, the name’s _Bill_ , and whatever nonsense you say, I ain’t ever apologising to _no one_ –”

 

Alex was still standing on the giant by the time Piper got on her feet, supported by Riley and Mags on either side. Riley’s cheek was cut up, and Mags had what looked like bird scratches and bites all over her arms (probably from trying to shield her face), but otherwise they looked okay.

 

“Okay, listen, this is all I know –” Bill was turning around on the spot, trying to see Alex as he spoke, but she was still holding on to his hair, still standing on his shoulders. “Listen, will you just _stop tuggin’_ –”

 

“I’ll stop if _YOU_ stop spinning around!”

 

“ _ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT_ –” Bill stopped, holding out his arms in surrender again. “I can’t tell you much of anything anyways, I _dunno_ who sent us, it was just me and Jutt over there,” he sniffed again, pointing at the place where Jutt once stood. “And we was minding our own business, of course, thinkin’ about going to steal some cows over from some farmers – they’re mighty nice those Canadian cows, y’know – and we got wind of a message. Wind of a message. Told us to find…to – to find…oh, no.”

 

The giant stopped, staring at something in the sky. Piper couldn’t see it from her angle. Alex tried to see, but she was too close to the roof at this height. “Bill, what are you…?” she asked, bending her knees to try and see.

 

Piper lead Riley and Mags forward to try and see out the window.

 

Less birds were flying around now, most of them terrified by Alex (Piper guessed) and the others getting bored of the lack of _feast_ in front of them. “It’s just the birds – is there a storm-spirit?” asked Riley, already taking out his sword. But in the kerfuffle, Piper thought she saw another figure dart past the sky, higher than the birds. When she tried to look up, the sun shone in her eye. She looked away.

 

Bill spoke up again: “ _A-Alex_ May, we had to find that demigod child-child.”

 

 _THWIP_.

 

From the sky, through the birds, past Piper, Riley and Mags, and under Alex’s feet, a black arrow shot into Bill’s heart. The giant disappeared without even a scream, and Alex tumbled to the ground. The arrow clattered down with her.

 

**

 

A few things happened after Bill died and the arrow fell to the ground.

 

 **First** , Piper and Alex argued. Or, rather, they shouted at each other, both completely confused about what just happened and trying in vain to understand. She couldn’t remember exactly what they said, but it was probably something along the lines of:

 

“ _He just – he just died, how did that – where did this come from?”_

_“It’s a black arrow, I –”_

_“Do you know what it is?”_

_“It’s a BLACK ARROW_ —”

 

Not the wisest of conversations. But in that moment, after seeing what Alex did, after the mysterious death of the giant, after a week of finding monster-hunters and living with them, Piper couldn’t handle it any longer. She didn’t care if nothing made sense anymore, nothing ever _did_ and she was stupid enough to believe she could forge her own destiny. Now she just needed to go _home_.

 

They heard the wail of the sirens, knowing full well that paramedics, policemen, and firemen were already on their way (if not already in the building). Maybe even _SWAT_ , since this was a pretty big airport with a pretty _huge_ hole in the side of it now, but Piper didn’t know enough about government policy. Piper didn’t _care_. All she cared about now was trying to get out of the airport.

 

The **second** thing that happened, was _Alex_ getting weaker by the minute.

 

Riley and Mags, their faces still scratched, the wounds on their arms still bleeding in some areas, pushed Piper on a gurney they stole from the first emergency responders, and Alex was meant to scout ahead.

 

They were only one corridor away, and Piper could already see Alex’s steps beginning to alter, her direction going right and left, until she was leaning against the railings and sliding herself across. When they caught up to her, Piper being rolled to the front, they asked her what was wrong.

 

“I’m – I have to sleep, or – I’m super hungry too, I –” Alex’s face was pale, her eyelids heavy. It looked like she wanted to throw up but there was nothing in her stomach, and her legs were falling over like jelly. “I’ll be fine, though, let’s just…let’s just get out of here.”

 

They pushed on a few more steps before Alex slumped against the railing, her cheek squished against the wall. The team made an executive decision to add Alex to Piper’s gurney.

 

And Piper thought _she_ felt bad.

 

It took a lot for Riley and Mags to lift Alex up to the gurney, but it looked like something they’d done before. Riley held Alex by her armpits and Mags had her feet, and Alex had one foot propped up as the helpful push to get her off the floor.

 

“Happens all the time,” Riley sighed, shaking his head.

 

Piper furrowed her brows. _Another_ thing to remember for later.

 

They laid Alex with her legs hanging off the edge of the gurney, her head on Piper’s lap, who was sitting cross-legged on the top. She had one hand on the gurney and the other on Alex’s head.

 

“Are…are you okay?” Piper asked, sounding hesitant for the first time, almost _fearful_ of the cost of Alex’s heroics on herself.

 

She’d been angry at Alex already, or she _tried_ to be. In truth, she didn’t know how to react. As soon as she saw Alex fight, she felt like her life was starting over again, more so than her life just simply ‘not making sense’. No. This was a game-changer. This was a ‘my life is changing and I’m watching it happen and I can’t do anything about it’ moment. Like that bus ride to the Grand Canyon. Her first storm-spirits. _Jason_. Being called a _half-blood_ , and having a different meaning this time. Her mother showing up for the first time. Being a _hero_ for the first time—

 

Piper clenched her fist around the side-handle of the gurney. Nothing would ever be in her control. She was _sick_ of it.

 

Alex opened her eyes, but just barely. Her voice was groggy as she spoke. “You find out yet who…who killed that giant? Bill?”

 

“I don’t know. I – I don’t know.” Piper yelped as Riley and Mags pushed them over a bump and the gurney shook.

 

“I…I dropped your sword.”

 

“Mags got it.”

 

“Your dagger?”

 

“I have it.”

 

“The arrow?”

 

“Mags also has it.”

 

“Mags has a lot of pockets, huh?”

 

“ _So_ many.”

 

Alex chuckled. There was nothing but the sound of airport announcements, siren wails, and Piper’s gurney wheeling down the corridor. Then:

 

“He was…he was all right, he shouldn’t have died,” Alex croaked. “I should’ve seen it coming.”

 

“We’ll take you to Tartarus and we’ll bring him back, okay?”

 

“You’re making fun of me.”

 

“I’m not, I swear.”

 

“You wanted me to kill him. I heard you. ‘Can’t let him go’.”

 

Alex sighed, closing her eyes. A second later, she was fast asleep.

 

Piper continued holding her head in her lap.

 

The **third** thing that happened, was a mixture of a police chase, Alex’s astounding ability to sleep through anything, and the messy ministrations of one Leo Valdez.

 

When it came to adventures and getting into trouble with mortal authorities, the _usual plan_ was to escape before anyone even saw them. If it was her and Leo, for example, they would’ve escaped on Festus, and would’ve been chewing ambrosia before they even got back to camp. The _amount_ of times they’d had to fly on the bronze dragon with blood seeping down her arm from a nasty cut, or with Leo knocked unconscious. But now that she was with _another_ team…

 

Their escape looked more like a joyride.

 

Riley was actually _whooping_ as they tried to roll their way out of the airport. Piper barely recognised the terminals and was unable to help at all, feeling halfway-sick as Riley and Mags propelled the gurney forwards, not caring where they went as long as it was AWAY from the airport security and policemen chasing them.

 

If they caught them, they would have to answer a lot of difficult questions and Piper didn’t have enough energy to charmspeak the lot of them.

 

They whizzed through the food court and Riley and Mags made a silent decision to break up. Mags pointed at one of the many corridors leading out of the food court and Riley nodded, dodging forward and grabbing people’s dinners along the way. A parkour across a jungle of tables and chairs.

 

He took a bag of McDonald’s the cashier was handing to someone. A burrito also being handed to someone. A bag of chips. Just enough – for _whatever_ reason, and then Riley headed to the corridor, meeting them there.

 

He threw the food onto Piper’s lap, not caring if it hit Alex’s head, and then continued pushing the gurney along with Mags.

 

Outside, the sun had already set and the night had shifted into navy blue, twinkling with lights from the city. No airplane seemed to be launching into the sky just yet. How long had it been since the attack? An hour? Maybe less? Maybe it was policy that all planes had to be grounded in the event of an emergency. But there was _something_ moving out there in the sky. Something big, something shaped like a ship –

 

Piper murmured to herself, smirking. “You’re _shitting_ me.”

 

The bow of an _Argo_ ship was heading closer and closer to the windows. Piper’s eyes widened.

 

“The –! The tarmac! Head for the tarmac!” she pointed furiously, unable to think of the word.

 

“Are you _CRAZY_ , you want to crash this thing into what’s probably three inches of fibregla –”

 

 ** _CRASH_**.

 

Another wing of the airport destroyed. The bow of the _Argo_ ship slid along the glass windows, making everyone scream and scramble away. The ship kept turning until the bridge could dock against the floor of the terminal. Piper groaned. Did he _have_ to?

 

The young man stood on the deck, right above the extending bridge, hands on his hips, flashing his signature smile.

 

“Ahoy! Did _someone_ say _–_ “ More glass shattered as the Argo continued to slide along, making Leo wobble as the extending slid more to the left. He turned around, gesticulating. “Babe! Babe, you gotta _stop_ it completely, you gotta _park_ it –”

 

Piper breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Calypso’s voice. “You didn’t _LABEL THIS RIGHT_.”

 

“…who the heck is this guy?” she heard Mags ask.

 

“Oh, this is Leo. This has _gotta_ be Leo,” Riley laughed.

 

“Might I suggest we skip the formalities and just _GET ON_ –” Calypso was getting bossier by the year and, honestly, Piper didn’t mind it.

 

“No, you’re right, you’re right – everyone!” Leo waved his arms like an airport worker signalling on the tarmac. “Onto the _Argo III.5_!”

 

Piper could barely keep her head up, the reality of her bruised ribs, bleeding head, and probably concussion, was finally hitting her. She felt the gurney being pushed forward, and then up the bumpy bridge, until it rolled to a halt on the deck of the –

 

“ _Argo III.5_?” she croaked, knowing Leo was close by. She could smell the oil and scorch-marks.

 

“Aw, well, that’s a pretty long story, Pipes – is that McDonald’s?” He picked up the bag from her lap.

 

“No, that’s for _Alex_ –” exclaimed Riley, “she needs to eat when she wakes up –”

 

“Dude, don’t worry, we have plenty of food, and we have ambrosia too.”

 

“They’re mortals, they can’t eat ambrosia,” Piper grumbled. She caught sight of Alex still in her arms. Better safe than sorry.

 

“Okay, seriously, everyone just needs to get on now. You’re _safe._ I **promise** you.”

 

The ship slowly lifted away from the airport, the shouts of the authorities and the wails of the sirens fading into the night. The gurney barely moved, Leo had probably installed some function on the decking that prevented things from sliding around. Someone took the remaining food from Alex’s lap, and then she felt someone take Alex from her. Her hand was still on the girl’s hair as she slipped away, and then her gurney started moving again.

 

Piper let her eyes begin to close as Leo talked and talked:

 

“…so the rest of the Hephaestus Cabin is working on the actual _Argo III…_ ”

 

The atmosphere felt cooler the more they rose up into the sky. Piper took a deep breath and exhaled.

 

“…and I thought, well, jeez, I still want my own, like, transportation-device thing and a car’s pretty boring and I _missed_ having an _Argo_ to myself. And, y’know what, _sue me_ for wanting a private vehicle for me and my close friends, my actual legit _squad_. We deserve an _Argo III.5_! And you know what else? Percy took us on a trip around New York again and I remembered how much I hated public transport…”

 

With the last of her energy, she lifted her hand to try and feel where Leo was. She managed to find his arm, pushing the gurney into the depths of the new _Argo_. The _Argo III.5._ Gods. But she smelt good food. Felt the warmth. Heard the rush of water. And with Leo around, she immediately felt safe.

 

“Supreme Commander of the _Argo III.5_ ,” she smiled. “Dork. Missed you.”

 

She felt Leo peck a kiss on the top of her head. “Missed you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope that wasn’t too rushed? had to admit, i struggled with this chapter a little bit. I wasn’t sure when to end it, and what to mention and all that, but I’m pretty happy with the final result !! I hope you are too !! 


	5. Bohemian Rhapsody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where they can relax for a while.

“And that’s her?”

 

“Yep, that’s her.”

 

“The one who slayed a Laistrygonian giant with one hit?”

 

“And tried to make friends with the other one? Yeah.”

 

Piper and Leo watched Alex puke over the side of the _Argo III.5._ Mags had been holding a bucket in front of her, but seemed grateful that the puke was sent overboard. She patted Alex’s back before helping her back inside.

 

“Yeesh. Talk about a fatal flaw.”

 

“You think motion sickness is fatal?”

 

Leo did a dramatic gasp. “You think it _isn’t_? I’ll think about stabilisers or something next time. Anti-turbulence or something. We can be invisible to monsters, and keep away from gods, but we can’t escape the demon that is _motion sickness_.”

 

“There are worse things,” Calypso grinned, walking up behind Leo and wrapping her arms around his torso.

 

Piper turned away from the view of the sky, leaning her back on the railing and crossing her arms. She smiled at the couple. “How’ve you been, Cal?”

 

“Been doing good, Pipes,” she beamed. “But how’s your friend? Is she up and walking now?”

 

“She was for about ten seconds but I think she’s not used to, uh, flying.”

 

“Ah, I _thought_ I heard someone’s insides hurling overboard.” Calypso walked over and gave Piper a tight embrace. “I’ve _missed_ you. We all have. Percy and Annabeth are going to strangle you with a hug.”

 

“They might actually be plotting my murder after all that’s happened.” Piper hugged her back. With every hug she was getting, she felt the pressure release from her shoulders. But her comment about ‘all that’s happened’ had made Leo quirk an eyebrow. She didn’t want to face that yet. At least Calypso was keeping it casual. “I’ve missed you guys, as well. It’s…it’s good to be going back. I feel like I’ve missed a lot –”

 

“Oh, not much. Just the usual,” Calypso leaned against Leo, and he put his arm over her shoulder. “Working hard…”

 

“—or hardly working,” Leo teased, and was immediately met with a gentle pinch to his rib.

 

“I’m keeping him in line,” Calypso rolled her eyes. “Which reminds me, I have to check on the bridge. We’ll catch up later, Piper.” She pointed from her eyes to Leo’s eyes as she walked away. “Also, if I find something wrong, remember you said this is _your_ baby, so don’t blame me.”

 

“Wait, no, I said last night –” Leo jogged to catch up with her and Piper followed the amusing story as it unfolded. “I said last night this was _our_ baby –”

 

Calypso snorted. “I seem to recall you saying I only owned fifteen per cent of this baby.”

 

“…an argument can be made for twenty.”

 

“ _Un_ believable.”

 

“It’s an _ingenious_ fifteen per cent. Irreplaceable. But to be fair, I had the blueprints for the engine and the bones of the ship, and I had the ideas for the games room, and the stainless steel kitchen --”

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

“And me and Festus did most of the heavy lifting…literally, we lifted the heavy things.”

 

“Right.”

 

“And the failure to launch the first time? That’s on you –”

 

“ _Wow_ –”

 

The son of Hephaestus paused. He stood in front of Calypso, his thinking face on, like he only just figured out how he was sounding. Piper stifled her laugh.

 

Leo sucked in air through his teeth.“…I’m gonna have to pay for this percentage-ownership thing in a subtle way later, huh?”

 

 “Not gonna be that subtle.” Calypso poked his forehead. She waved goodbye as she finally headed to the bridge.

 

“You complete me!” Leo called out.

 

“ _Fifteen per cent_ of you!”

 

Piper watched Leo watch Calypso go. She could practically hear the lovesick sigh that left him, his whole body going gooey in that way she’d only see Leo go when he was around a girl he was obsessed with. But this wasn’t something as weird as obsession. Nor as immature as a crush or puppy love. Nah. He was in love. _Actually_ in love. And it was written all over his face when he turned back to her, _sighing_.

 

“Pipes. Piper. _Piper-roni_ –”

 

“Six years ago I told you never to call me that again, and I stand by that.”

 

“Okay, but listen. Calypso’s the one.”

 

“You’ve known that for like four years.”

 

“I know but… _Gods_ …” He pumped his hands on his chest, right over his heart.

 

“All right, loverboy, what are you thinking?” Piper narrowed her eyes, then they widened in surprise. “Hang on, are you actually thinking…? Like…?” She gave him a look.

 

Leo’s mouth dropped. “ _Whoa._ No!” he exclaimed, before lowering his voice again. “No, no, no, I don’t think so, I mean, we’re too young, and I’m _way_ too much of an idiot for that. You need to be, like, stable and –” Then he paused, thinking it over. “I dunno… _nah_. Nah, no, no, no we’re fine the way we are. Continuing to _stay_ together doesn’t mean we have to get _married_. We just…” He gestured randomly.

 

“Stay together?” Piper suggested.

 

“Exactly. Stay together.” He paused again. “Do you think Percy and Annabeth are gonna get married?”

 

“ _Leo_.”

 

“What!”

 

“You literally just said you’re too young. _We’re_ too young! That includes Percy and Annabeth too.”

 

“Hmm.” Leo scratched his chin. “Well. Whatever happens, we all know _Percabeth’s_ endgame.”

 

“I will literally throw you overboard.”

 

“I knew I gave you too much ambrosia, I should’ve kept you weak.”

 

“Wish I could _stay_ weak. Then I’d have an excuse.” And just like that, she was out of Leo-and-Piper world, and back in the real one. Piper scrunched her nose, turning around to lean on the taffrail again, letting the wind blow past her face. She tapped her fingers along the wood. While the _Argo II_ looked like the original _Argo_ , an ancient trireme with railing shields and oars, the _Argo III.5_ had the appearance of a more classic ship. Like a ship from the _Pirates of the Caribbean_ (which Leo probably used as inspiration, now that she thought of it).

 

The figurehead still looked like Festus (but she was happy to know the bronze dragon was sleeping below deck). The deck was bigger now, with a proper forecastle, and a stern, and a large bridge that had a table for Leo’s maps. At the stern were the captain’s quarters (though Leo still was still trying to get everyone to call him ‘Supreme Commander’). The ship was smaller than the _Argo II_ , probably since it was Leo’s ‘personal ship’, but there was still enough space below deck, for the same mess hall, now with added kitchen, plus a lounge, games area, Iris-messaging booths, two pegasi stables, and only four cabins. Leo and Calypso stayed up in the captain’s quarters. Piper had one cabin. Riley and Mags had the other, and Alex was in her own cabin. While the _Argo II_ ’s cabins had been personalised, these ones were generic.

 

Leo let her stay quiet for a few seconds. They watched a cloudless sky go by, the ground under them just _green_ as far as the eye could see. Then he cleared his throat to get her attention again. “…do you…want to talk about it? Before you have to talk about it with everyone else? I mean…what actually happened?”

 

She pressed her lips together. “I probably should.”

 

“But you don’t have to rush into it.”

 

“…how much longer until we reach Camp?”

 

“We’re actually going pretty slow,” he beamed. “ _On purpose_. So we’ll reach ‘em by tomorrow morning. Or the end of the day if you want.”

 

Piper shook her head. “No. Tomorrow morning’s good. I think it’s best for me and…the rest of the team too. They need a break.”

 

Leo’s teasing smile returned. If there was one thing she found eternally annoying about Leo, it was his ‘I know something you don’t’ smile. Which was fifty per cent of his smiles. “The _team_ , huh? Look at you, finding yourself a new squad…”

 

Her jaw tensed. “They’re not my _squad_.”

 

“But it’s what you _need_. I can tell. I have, like, an eighth sense about that kind of stuff. It’s like I have ESPN or something.” He glanced at her sideways, seeing if that made her smile even a little bit. But her face was stony, _refusing_. Leo sighed, a hand on the back of his neck. “Okay. Time to be a good friend.”

 

Leo put a hand on her shoulder. “Pipes, you’ll always have me and everyone else and you _know_ this. But you should also know by now that none of us are good alone. We’re _terrible_ alone. Absolutely shit at it. After I almost died…” Piper glanced at him here. “There was that short, _ultra-_ short, time when I was trying to find Calypso. I mean, I knew I was going to find her, so I wouldn’t be alone forever but…I also knew…you guys thought I was dead. And, sure, I was gonna go back to you guys eventually but…for the few hours I was alone? Actually alone, even with Festus?” The boy released a calm sigh. “It _sucked_. Being in the middle of an ocean. Feeling like… _Gods_ , is this it? After everything that happened, I’m really just…some speck of dirt floating through all this? And I know you’ve probably felt that way too. But I hope you’ve realised now that...that kind of feeling can be fixed, even just a _little_ bit, by being around good people.”

 

At that moment, Riley emerged from below deck to look around, mashing something in a bowl. He caught Piper’s eye, nodded his head with a tired smile, and then went back down.

 

“They _are_ good people, aren’t they?” asked Leo.

 

“Yeah. Yeah, they are.” Then Piper leaned her head on Leo’s shoulder, closing her eyes and breathing in the sky air. “Since when did you get so smart and stuff.”

 

He grinned. “Bitch, _please_. I’ve always been like this. Some folks just don’t listen.”

 

 **

 

Energised by Leo’s talk, Piper headed below deck. She rolled up her sleeves and jogged down the stairs, thinking about who she should talk to. But she didn’t have to think for long. As soon as she stepped foot onto the corridor, she heard loud music playing from one of the doors. Piper walked over, slid it open, and was met with the sight of Riley, baking something, and rocking out to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

 

 _SO YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP ME AND SPIT IN MY EYE_ –

 

Riley waved at Piper with a smile, pointing at the speakers as if to let him finish the song at least. And Piper nodded, with a good-natured roll of her eyes, knowing it would finish soon. She noted the bandages around his arms, and the healing wound on his cheek.

 

As soon as they had arrived on board, the night before, Calypso went to work on healing them as Leo steered them to safety. Piper had healed in a mere hour, but the others had to rest all night. Alex was out cold until noon. It gave time Piper to explore a bit of the ship before the others were up and about. She made sure their weapons, including the black arrow, were safe in Leo's captain's quarter's, behind lock and key. The arrow was something to deal with later.

 

Leo really went all out with his ‘personal ship’. She figured that the stainless steel kitchen was something he and Calypso had always wanted. Calypso still preferred doing things by hand, if Piper remembered correctly, and Leo missed cooking things with his mom like they used to. She didn’t know if they’d cooked here yet, but she was glad that Riley was breaking the kitchen in – baking what she believed was banana bread and something powdery in a bowl.

 

Piper slid into the kitchen stool, directly opposite Riley. She propped one elbow up on the counter and leaned her chin on it.

 

The song ended, with Riley singing softly along to the end: “… _any way the wind…blows…_ ”

 

Both Piper and Riley made a _‘whoosh_ ’ gong sound, as the song finished.

 

“And that concludes playlist _Lovin’ The Classics_ , curated by your very own DJ Riles.”

 

“Inspiring. But how are you playing your own music, I thought Leo told you to throw away your phones?”

 

“ _Nah_ , he just said to throw away the sim cards and not use wifi anymore. He said the only way monsters could actually find us is if we’re connected to the broader world. And I already downloaded all my Spotify songs for offline-playing. Got all my babies right here,” he grinned, showing his phone.

 

Piper was impressed. So Leo had finally figured out the demigods-and-technology mystery. Chiron had never fully explained it, and she didn’t think he ever really knew. “Cool. So what’s all this, then? You know you can just ask for whatever food you want, and –”

 

“What, your magical plates? _Psh_ ,” he swatted his hand in the air. “This is, uh…” Riley cleared his throat, “p _olvoron_. It’s Filipino. Alex likes to eat this, after a big fight like that. Sometimes as a celebration thing, it’s this really sweet powdery stuff that you’re supposed to press into a cookie shape  but…we’re usually too impatient for that so we eat it off the bowl. Good thing Leo had brown sugar.”

 

Piper didn’t know what to say. Instead, she just nodded.

 

“And, yeah, like I said – sometimes it’s a celebration thing but I think it just comforts her as well. So it’s become comforting for me and Mags too. We haven’t had this in a year. I almost forgot how to make it.” He paused to mix around the powder. “Alex’s mom taught me. You mix everything in, and you fry the flour…you wanna try?”

 

He slid over the bowl and a spoon. Piper stared at it for a few seconds.

 

“What’s in it?”

 

“No meat,” Riley smiled. “Just flour, sugar, powdered milk, butter…can you eat milk and butter?”

 

Piper nodded. She took the spoon and scooped up a bit of the powder, taking it in one bite. She was surprised at how warm it was, the granules feeling messy in her mouth, like when she used to eat Milo from the can. “…it’s sweet,” she said, cracking a smile. “I like it.”

 

“Nice,” he beamed. “I hope Alex does. When she’s recovered, I’ll bring it over to her. I’m pretty sure Mags has been drowning her in water. She always does.” Riley paused. He opened his mouth as if to say something again, and then had second thoughts. He moved the bowl back to him and covered it with plastic wrap, moving his focus back to the banana bread mixture.

 

“And Alex bought _this_ on our way to the airport. She knew where you’d be, so she told us, and then she convinced us to go to the supermarket since it was on the way. We have mixes for banana bread, red velvet cupcakes, and brownies.”

 

“Riley,” she stopped him there, though her voice was soft and patient. “Are you okay?”

 

He tried to keep up appearances. Really, he did. He nodded his head, eyes focused on the banana bread, and then his nodding turned into shaking, and then he just hung his head completely.

 

“…no.” He slid the bowl aside and laid his forehead on the counter. “…Alex is _never_ supposed to fight. That was our…that was our deal, we’d talked about it.”

 

“Why shouldn’t she fight?”

 

“You saw what happened to her, man, she – I mean, she’s amazing but then afterwards, it’s like she’s halfway to _death_. It exhausts her so much. And it just gets worse every time, and we don’t know why.”

 

Piper couldn’t figure it out either. “You’ll figure it out. _We’ll_ figure it out. Now that we’re going to Camp Half-blood, there are gonna be people there who know more than me. You’ll meet Chiron. He’s… _ancient_ ,” she tried for a smile.

 

Riley shook his head. “Ah. We’ll see. I – I mean, I’m sure they’re nice,” he added quickly, “but it’s never really worked out for us before. The people we tried to get help from, they’d tell us we weren’t special enough, that we didn’t matter, or they’d see how Alex fights and then they’d try to use her…” A shadow fell over his face, but he closed his eyes for a second and the shadow lifted. He opened them and immediately went back to baking the banana bread.

 

“But… how _can_ she fight like that?” she asked. Riley took out a pan and started pouring the mixture in. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Not at Camp, or even in Camp Jupiter.” Percy, Annabeth, and Reyna were supreme-level fighters, in her eyes. “Not even the Amazons or the Huntresses of Artemis can fight like that. Not that I’ve seen, at least. Riley, you’ve gotta tell me the truth,” she said seriously. “Is she a demigod?”

 

Riley frowned. “No.”

 

She arched an eyebrow.

 

“ _No_ ,” he said again. “She’s not a demigod. Trust me. I’ve met her parents. They’ve been together since, like, the beginning of time.” When it looked like Piper didn’t believe him, he sighed. “Look, it’s not like I know every single detail of their relationship, but I don’t believe Mrs Estrada ever cheated on him. I like to believe that’s actually possible.”

 

Piper nodded, about to get lost in her own train of thought until: “Wait. _Estrada_?”

 

“What, you thought _May_ is Alex’s surname?” The smile returned on Riley’s face. “Alex May Estrada. Jesus, Piper, you’ve been working with her for like four months,” he laughed. “It was even on the program for the musical. Alexandra May Estrada, playing _Cinderella_.”

 

Piper’s face heated up. Was it _that_ bad that she didn’t know Alex’s surname? Everyone knew Piper’s, but that was just because of her father’s fame. And everyone knew Alex as ‘Alex May’. That was how she introduced herself! Plus, not everyone knew everyone’s surname. She tried to think of Riley and Mags’ surnames.

 

Nothing came up.

 

“…you’re thinking about our names now too, huh?” Riley joked.

 

 “Shut up.” Piper frowned. “…fine, what are your names?”

 

“Nah, I’m not telling you now.”

 

“ _Jerk_.”

 

“It’s not important anyway. What’s important is making sure we’ll be okay at Camp Halfblood. Can we even get in?” Riley gestured at himself.

 

“You should be able to. You’re not the only mortal that’s been in Camp. We have an Oracle.”

 

“As in a fortune-teller?”

 

“As in the _Oracle of Delphi_. She’s mortal.”

 

“Yeah, but like you said, she’s an _oracle_. Mags can barely read a clock that’s not digital.”

 

“You’ll be fine. I promise. And Leo can stop the ship at the barrier, check in with Chiron, make sure you have safe passage…it’s nothing to worry about.”

 

His face became pensive again. “…and you can actually promise we’ll be okay?”

 

Piper pursed her lips. She held his gaze, looking at him seriously. “I can actually promise: _you’ll be okay_.”

 

**

 

Riley’s laughter was still echoing in her head when she left the kitchen. Piper shifted her grip on the bowl of _polvoron_. _Alexandra May Estrada_. Gods, how did she not know this? Why did she have to have three names like that? Piper huffed, blowing her fringe off her face.

 

Reaching Alex’s cabin, she knocked on the door.

 

“It’s open,” came the familiar voice, sounding a little more muffled than it should.

 

Piper opened the door curiously, and saw Alex on the floor of her cabin, surrounded by three plates and two cups from the mess hall. One of them was piled with spaghetti, the other had fries from (probably) McDonald’s, and the last was rice and what looked like spring rolls. She couldn’t tell what was in the cups.

 

“Piper, I’m in heaven,” Alex chuckled, covering her chewing mouth with her hand.

 

She smiled. “Uh-huh, I can see that. Permission to join the feast?”

 

“Permission granted.”

 

Stepping over a bucket (empty and free of puke, thank goodness), Piper sat down across from Alex and her feast.

 

“Wait, what’s that?” Alex pointed at the bowl in Piper’s hands.

 

“Oh, it’s, um – _polvoron_. Riley made it for you, he wanted me to bring it over.”

 

Alex’s mouth dropped open in surprise, then it closed to show a watery smile. She held her hands out for the bowl and Piper gave it to her. She hugged the bowl. “I love him so much.” Peeling off the plastic wrap, she took a spoon and almost started to eat before holding it out to Piper again. “Have you tried it?”

 

“ _Yes_ , and before you ask: all of that is yours. Riley portioned off a bit for him and Mags. This is all yours,” Piper emphasised.

 

Alex narrowed her eyes playfully, then continued eating without a second thought. Through a mouthful of powder, she lifted the plate of spring rolls. “What about this?”

 

“What’s inside?”

 

“Pork, I think. Oh, _wait_ – right,” Alex set it down, then pointed at the plate of fries. Piper nodded, and took a few, stuffing them into her mouth.

 

“So,” Piper asked, eating a few more fries, “what’s in the cups?”

 

“Pineapple juice and iced tea.”

 

“Good combo.”

 

“I haven’t had pineapple juice in ages. Not the kind I like, anyway. The Asian store is so far from where we lived in Seattle.” Alex took the cup closest to her and sipped at it, her smile widening. She offered it to Piper, and Piper obliged, taking her own drink.

 

The two of them ate in silence for a while, Piper picking from the fries – until Alex poured her plate of spaghetti onto the plate of rice and spring rolls. “I could’ve just gotten a new plate,” Piper laughed, incredulous. But Alex just said they were both too lazy, and it was fine anyway. The meal that appeared on the plate were finger food sandwiches and donuts.

 

“Oh, my _God_ , why are you so obsessed with 7-Eleven sandwiches?” Alex laughed, after eating one of them.

 

Piper’s face went red. They _were_ miniature versions of the 7-Eleven sandwiches she’d grown to like. “They were the easiest things to pick up on the way to rehearsal. And I kinda miss them since, y’know, we haven’t been to rehearsal in a while.”

 

At the reminder, Alex’s smile saddened a little. About to take another sandwich, she took a donut instead. “... _and_ a Dunkin’ Donut. I used to get these as well, you know. I’m surprised we didn’t run into each other on the way.”

 

“Well, I was usually late.”

 

“ _True_.”

 

“Maybe next time.”

 

“…do you really think there’s gonna be a next time?”

 

Alex caught Piper’s gaze and Piper took a second to think before answering. “Well, we know Mariana’s probably ninety per cent done with the rebuilding by now. And it’s gonna be bigger and better, and we’ll probably have super-advanced rigging and things. Like if they do Mary Poppins again, Mary Poppins won’t fall halfway through flying.”

 

Alex stifled a laugh, covering her mouth with her hand again. “Jesus, I remember that. I can’t believe you watched that show.”

 

“Before I moved here, I just visited for a week to check it out. I caught the last show. Were you _in_ it?”

 

“I played The Bird Woman.”

 

Piper’s eyebrows shot up, her face brightening. “You _didn’t_.”

 

“I did!”

 

“I _loved_ the Bird Woman –”

 

They hadn’t talked like this, ever, and Piper was surprised to find how calming it was. And it wasn’t the kind of calm that she felt during the apartment, where everything was _almost_ normal. No, it was hard to forget where they were now and how they got here. But in the weirdness of it all, with her and Alex just talking and eating and laughing, Piper felt truly calm. It was like she wanted to smile as much as she could, for any reason at all.

 

Alex asked her how the plates worked, and Piper said she had no idea, so Alex made a random theory that there was some god in charge of cooking food as _fast_ as possible – and maybe they also had mind powers because they had to know exactly what the eater wanted.

 

“Riley, Mags and I were all eating here like two hours ago and Mags had this huge plate of rice, vegetables and meat. Riley just had KFC,” Alex said. “I think he still prefers making things by hand.”

 

Alex asked her what she’d been doing all day, and what happened last night, and if Leo and Calypso thought she was rude for not saying ‘hi’ properly yet. Piper assured her they definitely didn’t, and that Calypso was ready to make some sort of potion to ease Alex’s motion sickness – and then Alex turned bright pink. “Okay, after this, I’m going up there and I’m showing my face. I _don’t_ have motion sickness,” she said with a slight frown. “I just…I was really tired.” She scooped up spaghetti with her fork, but didn’t eat it yet.

 

Piper hugged her knees to her chest, tilting her head. “Alex, no one’s blaming you for being tired. Riley explained to me –”

 

The slight frown turned into a full frown. “What did Riley say?”

 

“Not much,” Piper said quickly, calmly. “Just that after you fight, especially after a big one, you get really tired. And that _polvoron_ is like your comfort food after.”

 

Alex’s shoulders slumped. Three seconds of quiet went by, before: “…I should probably tell you what’s going on, huh?”

 

“It would…be nice, yeah.”

 

Alex set down the fork of spaghetti and picked up the cup of iced tea. She took a short sip and then looked out the cabin window as she thought of where to start. Piper waited patiently.

 

When it seemed like Alex didn’t want to talk at all, Piper began to say: “We don’t have to talk about it right now –” but then Alex started.

 

“So…I’m a good fighter. I’ve always known that. And this was _way_ before knowing about monsters and gods and things. Nah. It was just…” Alex looked up at the ceiling, thinking of how to explain herself, “it was just _life_. I could always run faster than everyone, do sports longer, throw things further. I beat the school record for long jump,” she said with false enthusiasm. “I got into a few fights at school. Actually, they were my friends’ fights, and I’d just try and stop them…and I _would_. But somehow, the aftermath was always worse. I had, um…I had a friend of mine who…he had a lot of rumours about him, going around school. Because people are stupid,” she snorted, rolling her eyes. “But then the rumours just kept getting worse, and then one week, we had martial arts lessons instead of gym class. For whatever reason.” Alex took a deep breath and exhaled.

 

“And everyone was super into it, y’know, just doing karate chops everywhere and beating each other up. It was whatever,” she shook her head. “I didn’t know how my fighting thing worked, but I was scared that even if I did a _little_ it would start the whole thing. Then they started ganging up on my friend. Like…six of them. A few big guys, and some girls who couldn’t shut up. And my friend…” Alex cracked a smile, “he was always braver than me. Sometimes I think he wanted to start fights. He never liked people talking behind his back or whatever, because he wanted them to say it to his face. But then the whole class got in on it. I guess it looked like a game to them. Say what they could, see what was gonna make him react.”

 

Piper frowned, already imagining the kind of _shit_ kids could pull. She felt guilty, all of a sudden, for thinking that Alex was just some secret show-off. She remembered feeling conflicted about it, _angry_ about it, that Alex had just let Piper try and protect her while knowing full well what she could do.  Now she realised it was much more complicated than that. Now she remembered, things were _never_ that simple. 

 

“So…" she asked, "what did you do?”

 

“All the insults and stuff, we were used to it. I stood in the crowd but I didn’t do anything ‘cause…I mean, he could handle it. But then someone threw their water bottle at him. He picked it up and started drinking from it. So the guy who threw it – Damien Gates,” Alex sighed, her brow creasing. “Started screaming about how he was gonna get a disease or something, and he punched him in the face. Right on his mouth.” Alex paused again. “And then, I just – I just, y’know, I just stopped them. The bullies. I stopped Damien. And then other people got in, and I stopped _them_ , and three broken arms later…I was expelled. And I never saw him again.”

 

The sound of the ship groaning filled the silence that fell between them. Piper could hear music playing down the hallway again, _pop_ music this time, not rock. Footsteps went by the door. She thought of what she could say, if there was anything _to_ say. When nothing came to mind, she settled on continuing to give Alex her full attention. She hugged her knees closer to her chest, waiting for her to continue.

 

“Then I had to change schools in the middle of seventh grade and then – my parents told me I had to stop doing sports. But…that day. After I got expelled. My mom made me sit at the kitchen bench. And I watched her make me a huge batch of _polvoron_ ,” Alex smiled, her eyes glistening a little. She blinked back her tears. “I wouldn’t stop crying so I couldn’t help her make them into proper shapes, so she just said I could eat from the bowl. And I…I know this doesn’t really explain anything, Piper,” she admitted, wiping her eyes with her sleeve pulled over her hand. “I’m sorry it doesn’t, I just…I don’t actually know.”

 

Piper fidgeted with her own sleeves. “Alex…”

 

“My mom was a marathon runner, and my dad’s a mechanic. An actual mechanic, not like a secret human form of Hephaestus, or Vulcan. They’ve never had anyone but each other. They moved here from a different _country_ together. All they told me about my fights was just to keep myself centred, calm, and to not fight unless I absolutely had to. They knew I had some extra physical stuff going on, so they told me not to do any more sports in case it triggered it. And I always got tired after my fights. I ate a lot, I slept a lot. And we could never break that cycle, not even with all of my mom’s training. But I still had a lot of energy cooped up inside of me so…so they told me I could pursue something else physical. And I started doing theatre.”

 

All that talking seemed to exhaust Alex all over again. Piper watched her entire figure slump, and she leaned against the wall of her cabin, taking steady, deep breaths. And then there was the regret, the look on her face that said she wished she hadn’t spoken so much, that she could take it all back. Piper understood the feeling. But she also understood now, that talking to someone, and letting someone understand her worries and concerns…it helped the other person too. Piper now felt like she understood Alex more. And she was grateful for it.

 

“Okay,” Piper said, standing up. Her knees cracked as she went, and she scoffed at them. “Okay, come on, get up.”

 

Alex looked up at her, confused. “What are we doing? I don’t want to go out yet.”

 

“No, we’re not going out.” Piper looked determined, with her hands on her hips. “We’re going to hug.”

 

“We’re gonna _hug_?”

 

“Yes, come on, shut up, just get up here.”

 

Alex wobbled as she stood up, holding herself against the wall for support. She looked down at the plates between them and made a ‘ _now what?_ ’ face at Piper, but Piper just stepped over the plates into Alex’s space, until there were just three inches between her and Alex.

 

“Don’t be alarmed,” said Piper, in mock seriousness.

 

“Gotta admit, I’m a little alarmed. Are you possessed right now? Is this a real-life possession?”

 

Piper fought the urge to smile. “Can you stop being an idiot for five seconds and take this seriously? I’m trying to comfort you.”

 

Alex wiped away the tear tracks from her cheeks, rolling her eyes. “Brontosauruses don’t need comforting.”

 

“But velociraptors do. So come on.” Piper reached over and pulled Alex into a hug. She made sure to give a tight squeeze, wrapping her arms around Alex completely. These were the kind of hugs she’d usually have with Leo or Annabeth, and she was happy to know that long blonde or brown hair wasn’t tickling her nose anymore. Instead, she just smelled the laundry detergent they used at the apartment. It smelled of lavender.

 

Pulling apart from the hug, she still had her hands on Alex’s shoulders, her expression softening. “Leo does this to me when I feel bad. It always helps me, so…” she shrugged, then slipped her hands off quickly, forgetting they were there. “I’m not really good at…thinking of words that can help you feel better.”

 

“It helped,” Alex smiled. Piper noticed her cheeks were a little flushed. Alex leaned back a little, so there was more space between them. Piper acted like she didn’t notice. “It helped a lot. Thanks, Piper. For listening. And if…if I find out more about what’s going on with me, I swear I’ll tell you. You’d be the first to know.”

 

“And I won’t run away anymore,” Piper said suddenly, saying it before she realised she’d wanted to say that the whole time. “I’m sorry I did. That’s a whole other…thing about me too. There's a lot of things we should talk about eventually but...for now, we're good.”

 

“God, so many secrets.” Alex breathed out a laugh. “It’s like a soap opera. But yeah, you're right. We're good. I still trust you, Piper,” she smiled, leaning her head to one side. “So if you ever wanna talk again…it’s my turn to listen.”

 

Piper mirrored her smile. “I’ll remember that.”

 

**

 

They remained in the room to finish off the food, and then for the rest of the day, Piper took Alex on a tour around the _Argo III.5_. She explained the story of the original _Argo II_ , and how the sleeping dragon in the brig was the original figurehead of the ship. Alex pointed out the possibility of the current figurehead being another, secret, dragon altogether and Leo had overheard, whistling loudly to himself as he walked by.

 

The two girls were joined by Riley and Mags again, Riley’s neck covered in marks that Alex pulled a face at and Mags turned bright red. The four hung out in the lounge, Alex and Piper deep into a conversation, reminiscing about their time working on _Into the Woods_ (“Reagan wouldn’t shut up about how she would’ve been a better Cinderella,” Piper said, to which Alex gasped: “That _bitch_.”). Calypso walked in, making the three mortals’ jaws drop as the titaness stood in the doorframe, rolling her eyes at the reaction. Calypso put her hand on Alex’s forehead to test her health, and then pressed a vial into Alex’s hand, telling her to smell it if she felt motion sickness again. Alex didn't have the chance to explain that she didn't have motion sickness at all and  _God, Piper, can you please tell her, she's too nice_. After Calypso left, Mags snatched the vial from Alex’s hand to smell it and confirmed that it, indeed, smelled just like a more magical version of Vicks.

 

For dinner, everyone ate a hearty meal, complete with Riley’s banana bread (which everyone finished before dessert) and Leo pulled out a piano from the wall. It could play any song they requested, and Riley requested the opening song of _Into the Woods_. All four of them – Piper, Alex, Riley and Mags – sang along to the song as loud as they could, and Leo and Calypso sang the parts they knew and warbled the rest.

 

When night officially fell, and everyone retired to their cabins, Piper stayed outside on the deck. The ship was flying low among the clouds, the crow’s nest completely covered in it. It was helpful for staying out of sight, with the ship flying on low power to save energy, but it blocked out the stars.

 

There were a few times during their journey to defeat Gaea, where Jason would sometimes fly himself and Piper up, higher than the _Argo II_ , but never too far away because she knew flying could exhaust him sometimes. It was enough to just be away from everything, even for a few seconds.

 

Piper stared down the mast, taking note of all the ropes and sails connected to the crow’s nest. When she spotted the ladder rope, she headed for it.

 

 _One, two, three, four_ …she counted each step the higher she went, her teeth beginning to chatter at the cold winds, but she pushed herself to keep going. The clouds got caught up in her face and the air became so cold her nose hurt when it breathed – but then the sky cleared altogether.

 

Piper quickly crawled into the crow’s nest, sitting down on the wooden floor and hugging her knees to her chest. She hadn’t seen the stars in years, and not because of heavy clouds and tall buildings. She simple refused to look up. But this time, she did. And it didn’t take her long to scan the sea of white, sparkling dots and finally spot him:

 

Apollo’s new constellation, _The Stormchaser_.

 

A pretty dramatic title, if you asked her, but seeing the line of stars form a boy flying through the sky – it was perfect as a way to honour Jason Grace.

 

“I’m sorry I stayed away for so long,” Piper said, smiling a little, before she let herself cry. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who’s emo ?? i am !!
> 
> this is a hella long chapter but one that i just loved writing bc it was so chill and i really liked delving into everyone’s relationships again, and yES that little leo/calypso interaction was very tony/pepper inspired, so suE me 
> 
> i’ve also gathered the trials of apollo series (finally) so hopefully i can get around to reading that soon. for now, the only canon will be up to ‘the burning maze’, so when ‘the tyrant’s tomb’ comes out, i probably won’t take it as canon ! hopefully no one else…dies…. ☹ 
> 
> and hey any god can make a new constellation, right? artemis created ‘the huntress’ after zoe nightshade. artemis and apollo continue to honour their heroes by making them into constellations!! 
> 
> this was such a soft chapter sigh, calm before the storm 
> 
> hope you enjoyed !! thank you for reading, and i’ll try to post new chapters sooner !


	6. Because She's Special

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Chiron hears about it.

The team arrived at Camp Half-blood on a crisp Tuesday morning and Leo dropped them off at the Hill. He, Calypso and Piper had discussed steering the _Argo III.5_ to the east of the camp, as a better introduction to the place, rather than to the west with the Forest. _That_ was something they shouldn’t introduce yet. The East was kinder to newcomers. Already from here, Piper could see the Big House, the Amphitheatre, and the strawberry fields.

 

“Oh, my God,” Alex whispered. “It’s beautiful. It’s...it’s…so old!”

 

Piper smiled. If Alex May could _see_ Camp Half-blood, then it was a good sign.

 

“Yeah, it’s old but...I mean, I guess it’s beautiful?” Mags tried.

 

Riley scratched his head. “Alex always did like old stuff.”

 

“Yeah, but this is just...nothing.”

 

“What do you mean?” Alex asked. “Can’t you see the big theatre and the lake and – holy shit, is that a _mermaid_?”

 

Riley and Mags leaned over the edge of the ship to try and see but Calypso pulled them back before they could fall, dusting off her hands as she headed to the steerage.

 

Leo was the one to explain to Alex. “Mortals see an old, abandoned farmhouse and bare fields.”

 

“Man, are you sure this is the right way? Maybe it’s over the next hill?” asked Mags.

 

“ _And_ they also start believing that they should just head another direction. All magic stuff, no biggie,” Leo smiled. Piper saw Alex nod slowly, a crease forming on her brow. Another reminder that she _wasn’t_ as mortal as she thought she was, Piper thought. She could sympathise.

 

Calypso steered the ship around, she and Leo estimating where the actual barrier line was, so that they wouldn’t have three fried mortals on their hands. None of them actually knew how it worked, maybe they would just be ejected off the ship (which was still not a good thing to happen, no matter how Leo chuckled when Piper suggested it). As they turned, they scraped the hull against the barrier, the thrumming energy shaking everyone’s skulls. If Riley and Mags weren’t already freaked out by the seemingly invisible mythological camp, Piper bet they were now.

 

After coming around, Calypso parked the ship as low as she could, and the four hopped off. Leo waved goodbye as he climbed back up and Piper watched the ship disappear over the hill. She put her hands on her hips, looking around them before telling them they had a while to wait. She almost felt bad for Riley and Mags, usually so confident and spunky, and now they looked completely lost.

 

“Well,” Mags huffed. “We can’t see anything magical _yet_ –”

 

“Guys, take a picture of the statue!” Alex was already dashing up the hill.

 

“What statue?” asked Riley.

 

“The big one of the lady here.” Alex was staring up at the tall, grey-eyed statue. Piper looked too; she got the same feeling she did when Annabeth would stare them down, trying to find whatever they were hiding from her, or just doing a good old-fashioned glare for intimidation. “Who is it?” Alex asked.

 

“Athena,” Piper answered. “It’s officially called the Athena Parthenos. Protects the camp...and other stuff,” she added vaguely.

 

Mags had her hands held out in front of her, determined to find something magical. “God, I hate that I can’t _see_ anything, this is like Disneyland but I paid the poor ticket and now I need to bribe Walt Disney’s ghost himself just to see the freakin’ castle --”

 

Riley laughed as he watched her reach around. Alex took his and Mags’ hands and dragged them to stand in front of the statue, beginning to describe how it looked, and what she could see of the Camp from here. Then all three of them tried taking pictures with the Athena statue, relying on Alex’s ability to see.

 

Piper shook her head in disbelief as the three mortals posed for pictures. She hoped Athena wouldn’t strike Riley’s phone down in anger. She didn’t even know how pictures worked with magical objects. Maybe all the photo would see was the sky and three grinning faces and peace-signs and dabs.

 

But no invisible force pushed the mortals back, so Piper figured they were safe here. All four of them sat at the hill, Alex professing her love for ‘ _LAND_ , SOLID LAND’ as she lay down. Riley took a few more pictures of the view around them. The rolling hills, the Farm Road, fields, and of course, the Sound itself and then the sea. _Huh_ , Piper thought, looking around as well. It was beautiful. She’d never really noticed it before amidst all the running, screaming, wars, and vengeful deities. If there was any place to sit down and pause for a while, it was Halfblood Hill. The best lookout views this side of Olympus, in Piper’s opinion.

 

And she was feeling more herself now. Even just outside the border, she felt safer. She figured it would take a while for Leo to park the _Argo III.5_ , then get Chiron and then for all of them to come to the Hill.

 

A minute later, Mags joined her on the grass, lowering her head to whisper: “Do you think maybe Athena could be Alex’s mom?”

 

 _Mags_ was the only one who thought there might be some sense to Piper’s theory.

 

They were the first two up, eating breakfast together in the mess hall before Mags suggested they take their plates up to the deck. After some small talk about how nice the ship was, and a few funny _Argo II_ anecdotes from Piper, it was Mags who cut to the chase. And Piper was grateful for it. Gods had pulled crazy stunts like this before, keeping secret kids here and there. She also didn’t really like the idea that Alex was just this rare specimen, someone the gods cooked up like a nice Frankenstein’s monster (Leo’s theory), or perhaps she was just a new mortal hero (Calypso’s idea), or Kryptonian (Riley’s idea). The gods weren’t the smart. Alex was _someone_ , and they needed to find out who.

 

And while Mags had met Alex’s parents with Riley, unlike Riley, she was happy to entertain the idea of Alex being a demigod. They both thought that legacies couldn’t be that powerful. Piper had mentioned Frank, but they both ended up thinking he was the exception, not the rule.

 

And Alex being a daughter of Athena?

 

“I’m not sure,” Piper admitted. “There’s a _lot_ of Athena kids at camp. Not all of them are the same, of course, but usually they’re more...thinkers. Goddess of battle strategy and all that.”

 

“True. And Alex is usually more... _instinct-based_ ,” Mags mused. “Like, when she fights, she doesn’t really _think_. She just _knows_ what to do.”

 

“Yeah, and usually when demigods come in contact with something related to their godly parent, something happens. Like, I got claimed when I first arrived here. If she was Athena’s kid, then maybe the statue would have done something.”

 

“How do people get claimed?”

 

“Usually, it’s a symbol above their head.”

 

“Huh.” Mags looked over to Alex, who was already falling asleep on the grass, then back to Piper. “What about you?”

 

The girl grimaced at the memory. “I got Aphrodite’s blessing.”

 

“What’s that?” Mags asked, already smirking at how Piper was reacting to it.

 

“She just made me unnecessarily pretty.”

 

“Tragic. What actually _happened_ , though?”

 

“I was like... _glowing_ , or whatever. Got extra makeup. A hair blow-out.”

 

“Mm, yeah. Standard stuff. Did she do your nails too?”

 

“Shut up,” Piper pushed against her shoulder to shove her into the grass. Mags snorted as she laughed, allowing herself to fall.

 

“It was... _super_ traumatic for a fifteen year old,” Piper added in mock seriousness.

 

“I hear you. And that’s her ‘blessing’?”

 

“Prettiness is just one of her things.”

 

“Goddess of love and prettiness. Got it. What else? Artemis? No, she’s a virgin goddess, right?”

 

“ _Right_. And I was actually thinking she could be a child of the Big Three.”

 

“As in Zeus, Poseidon, Hades…?”

 

“Exactly. But since she’s not all ocean-y like Percy, and not connected with death or jewels like Nico or Hazel…” Piper ticked off her ideas on her fingers, knowing that she was dropping more names than Mags knew. “And Zeus…I dunno.” Jason and Thalia having another secret sibling kept away from them would be overkill. “Has Alex ever flown? Or done anything lightning-y?”

 

Mags stretched out onto the grass. “Lightning-y?”

 

“You know, like, calling lightning from the sky. Or maybe she can control the air or something.”

 

“Nah, none of that. I mean...she hates it when she gets static-shocked by carpet.”

 

“Fair enough.”

 

“What about Ares?”

 

Both girls scrunched their lips to the side, thinking it over. Piper noticed they had the same thinking face (or rather, Riley had pointed it out one morning in the apartment and had taken a picture of it too).

 

“It’s...the most logical. Alex is made for battle,” Mags said. “I think that’s pretty safe to say. And you’ve only seen her fight once, too. I’ve seen her fight more than that. The last time she fought...was crazy.”

 

That must have been when Riley made the deal with Alex that she would never fight again. But _no one_ had explained it to Piper. _Yet_. She waited for Mags to open the topic.

 

“So, yeah, probably Ares. I’d bet money on Ares,” Mags decided.

 

So much for that. Piper was starting to really _hate_ all these secrets, but she knew it was probably just karma for her own reservedness.

 

Leo appeared five minutes later, trudging up the hill, panting, with Chiron and two satyrs in tow. And there was the boost in Piper’s confidence again, the feeling of ease. Riley tapped Alex’s leg to wake her up, and the girl practically shot up out of the grass at the sight of the centaur. Chiron watched all four of them form into a line. The barrier was still between them. Piper could see the Mist shift around Chiron’s lower half, the appearance of the horse’s legs and the wheelchair switching. The energy of the barrier between them sizzled, as if deciding by itself if it should let these three new people in.

 

Chiron looked the three of them in the eye, one by one, and Piper was proud to see none of them cowering. Riley actually puffed out his chest a little more and Mags tugged on his sleeve to make him stop.

 

The centaur chuckled, settling his gaze on Piper. “What a strange journey you’ve been on.”

 

“No stranger than usual,” she said, feeling herself begin to smile.

 

“Well, I’m happy to report, you can rest in the meantime. Welcome back, old friend. And to you three,” Chiron smiled, placing a hand on his chest and bowing his head. The three of them bowed their heads as well. “ _Welcome_ to Camp Halfblood. Breakfast has already been served and packed away, unfortunately, but I’m sure Mr Valdez has kept you well-fed on the... _Argo IV,_ is it?”

 

“ _Argo III.5_ , actually, but I’m thinking of handing a survey around later for --”

 

Chiron patted his shoulder with a smile and Leo pouted. “We’ll talk more later. For now, I think it’s best that we reconvene in the safety of the camp’s borders and after our new campers settle in, we’ll discuss this curious situation more.”

 

Piper watched the centaur carefully. Chiron was usually a good judge of character, if not a very _vague_ one as well, as most wise teachers seemed to be. And she knew exactly what Leo would have said to him, since they discussed it that morning:

 

“You’ll _only_ say that they’re three mortals who fight monsters,” Piper had said, “and I met them and hung out with them a while…”

 

“...and then you ended up getting attacked in an airport by two Laistrygonians and Stymphalian birds.” Leo nodded. “Got it.”

 

The black arrow was still stashed away in the _Argo III.5_. There was to be no mention of Alex’s extra abilities. She figured it was best to see how much Chiron liked Alex, Riley, and Mags, before adding more to the situation. There was still a lot to be discussed anyway. Like _how_ Leo knew to pick them up at the airport. And she still hadn’t forgotten what Alex mentioned about her dreams. And if Rachel was here, she was probably the best person to speak to about the future. And Percy and Annabeth, if they weren’t in New Rome anymore. Gods, maybe they _should_ have stopped by Camp Jupiter first. But, no, around this time, they usually visited New York and the Camp thanks to her work as architect of the Gods – but maybe they already _left_ and she just missed them –

 

 _One thing at a time_ , Piper thought, wringing her hands together as she calmed her breathing. Maybe here, she could do something about her anxious spiralling.

 

She saw Chiron look at the team again. He didn’t linger on them for very long, only showing his warm smile at the end, and then extending his arm out to the camp, inviting them in. The two satyrs led them at the front, and she could tell that by the time they passed through the barrier, Riley and Mags could finally see everything by the way they gasped (and she thought she heard a _squeal_ , too).

 

Piper walked with Leo and Alex, and Chiron stayed behind. She didn’t want to look back, but something in the back of her neck prickled. With a quick glance, she saw Chiron staring pensively at Alex. But then Chiron’s eyes flickered to Piper, and she looked away.

 

**

 

Since it wasn’t summer yet, less than half of the usual population of demigods were here. But the number of year-rounders still made up quite a group, with over a hundred of them scattered around Camp. Some of them gathered around the Amphitheatre, taking a break and reading, or chatting with each other. Some were on the lake, or working on their arts and crafts, and Piper could hear the clanging of metalwork happening in the forge. Her steps became slower, happy to bask in the place she hadn’t seen for over a year. _Home_. She couldn’t stop thinking about it.

 

Alex was quicker on her feet, wanting to see _everything_ and go _everywhere_. She ran forward a bit, accompanied by one of the satyrs, who had introduced himself as Taki. Taki had curly brown hair he kept tied back in a long ponytail, and he sported what Piper could only describe as a ‘festival aesthetic’, with a brightly patterned shirt and leather bracelets around his wrists. He also had a band around his forehead like Rocky. He made sure Alex didn’t walk too far ahead or wander too close to the lava wall. But when he offered to take Alex’s bags ( _two_ of them, one a duffle-bag and the other her backpack), she refused.

 

“It’s a little heavy –"

 

“No, really, it’s fine,” Taki assured her. “If I don’t take your bags, it’ll look bad, trust me,” he looked behind him at the elder satyr, named Basil. Basil had blonde hair, stood half a foot taller than Taki, and had quite large muscles under his plain black shirt. He arched an eyebrow at Taki and stomped one of his hooves onto the ground. Taki jumped and started tugging on Alex’s bag.

 

“Okay, okay, fine –” Alex let go of the duffle-bag, and Taki almost tripped over from how unexpectedly heavy it was.

 

Leo called out from the back of the walking tour: “What could you _possibly_ have in there?”

 

“Our entire _closet_!” Alex rolled her eyes.

 

“ _WHY_.”

 

“It’s not _MY_ fault – blame Riley!”

 

Riley held his hands up in surrender.

 

Piper wondered if the bag included the coloured costumes she remembered seeing her first night there. She didn’t even know how Riley and Mags managed to carry everything while running and fighting and then climbing hysterically on board a flying ship.

 

Yeah, it had been a crazy few days.

 

Chiron had the two satyrs direct the three mortals to the Hermes cabin for the meantime, and then told Piper and Leo to meet him in the Big House in fifteen minutes. Leo headed back to his cabin, and Piper went to hers. She found herself quickening her steps to get to her cabin faster. She counted all the cabin numbers, noting all the changes in décor over the past year. Honestly, not _much_ , but a year still felt like forever. One of the Ares kids waved at her as she walked past. Two Athena kids greeted her.

 

And the chic blue and white cabin of the children of Aphrodite? She had actually begun to miss it – if only for her siblings.

 

Mitchell greeted her at the door, and he swooped her up in a hug along with Lacy. “Oh, praise the Gods, thank _Hades_ you’re all right!” the younger girl sobbed. She and Mitchell battled to try and hug Piper the longest before Piper had to tap out, tapping both of their heads so her siblings would peel off. Mitchell pouted as he tried to fix his sleek hair, but Lacy couldn’t seem to care less. They were the only two Aphrodite kids this time around.

 

“Why are you _taller_?” Piper asked, tapping Lacy on the head again.

 

“Growth spurt,” Lacy beamed. “And thank goodness I got one, otherwise I’d be the shortest and not Mitchell.”

 

“She’s sixteen now, believe it or not. You’d think she’d be more _mature_ ,” Mitchell groaned, dragging one dramatic hand down his face – an _inch_ above his face, of course, Piper could see the meticulously applied makeup from here. Even _she_ knew how difficult it was to get something perfect, and Mitchell was immaculate. She’d had her doubts about Mitchell being able to step up as the new Head Counselor after she left camp, but just as Mitchell’s makeup and hair styling was improving, so was his confidence.

 

Around the cabin, Piper could see more weapons on display, all of them as cared for as the hair straighteners and Korean face masks. All the weapons also had paint on them, and ribbons and stickers. But the best part was? No more rubbish under the beds.

 

“No more love notes, no more candy wrappers…no more trashy magazines?” she pointed out to Mitchell, who blushed while Lacy giggled behind her hand.

 

“Teen Vogue isn’t _trashy_ ,” Mitchell murmured.

 

“We keep the love notes on the pinboards now!” Lacy skipped over to her bunk, where a full corkboard hung over her pillow. All the bunk beds had them. Upon closer inspection, Piper was surprised to see there were also battle strategies mapped out.

 

“We’re working on our training more,” Mitchell explained, hands on his hips. “Mom always said, ‘all is fair in love and war’. We have the first part figured out, might as well figure out the second too.”

 

“And Piper…” Lacy’s voice went small. “It was Mom who told us to find you.”

 

Piper blinked. “Wait, what?”

 

“A few days ago,” Mitchell added, sitting on a bunk bed. Piper and Lacy sat opposite him. “We were in the lake working on our rowing, which is super frustrating because we had our Versace sunglasses on and the naiads kept _snatching_ them but –” he calmed himself with a flourish of his hand, “I’m getting ahead of myself. We heard Mom’s voice in the water. And the naiads ran _away_ too. No one could scare them off like that. She told us that you were in danger in Seattle and we had to send someone. So we sent Leo.”

 

“Are you okay now?” Lacy asked, holding Piper’s arm gently.

 

Piper looked between her two siblings – Lacy and Mitchell, the pair who had _always_ been there for her since day one. As she looked around, trying to decide how to answer, she spotted the Shoes of Shame up on a pedestal, with the placard ‘Last Worn By Drew Tanaka’, dated just a few months ago. And her father’s old King of Sparta poster was still in the same spot it was in, after she put it back almost four years ago. All of it made her smile.

 

“ _Lacy_ …” Piper put her arm over her shoulder and she gestured Mitchell to come over, putting her arm over his as well. Lacy leaned her head against Piper. “Short answer? Yes. I’m okay. Right as rain. I missed you guys,” she squeezed them into a quick hug. “Long answer…there’s still a lot to figure out.”

 

“When is there _never_ anything to figure out?” Mitchell huffed. “But, y’know, it’s actually been pretty peaceful at camp. The longest peace we’ve had in years.”

 

“Seriously?” Piper asked.

 

“Legit. We only call head counselor meetings now to keep campers in line. The last time was Meg McCaffrey trying to kill Connor.”

 

“Again,” Lacy rolled her eyes.

 

“But otherwise, it’s been chill and peaceful.”

 

“ _Too_ peaceful,” Lacy said dramatically.

 

Mitchell put his hand on her face and she pushed it away. “ _No_ ,” he said. “It’s been _actually_ peaceful. _Then again_ …we’re still finding monsters in the woods and someone gets lost in the Labyrinth occasionally. Would you consider that peaceful?”

 

Piper laughed. “I’d consider that paradise.”

 

She left Katoptris, and her sword in the trunk at the end of her bunk bed (which, according to Mitchell, had been untouched for a year and she saw that from the cobwebs hanging above her bed). Then she told her siblings she would catch up with them later, after she was done speaking with Chiron at the Big House.

 

Leo was already there when she arrived, sitting at a rocking-chair at the porch with Chiron, already in his wheel-chair.

 

“Well, lookee here, boys, see what the cat dragged in,” said Leo, in an exaggerated old Western accent. His rocking-chair creaked as he pushed it back and forth, grinning like he was so pleased with himself.

 

Chiron and Piper shared the same, tired look.

 

But when they were all finally inside, the three of them got to business. All Chiron had to do was asked ‘what happened’ and Piper already prepared her answer. She told him about how she met Alex May, working at the musical. How she saw Riley and Mags fight the storm-spirits one performance.

 

“…storm spirits?” Chiron asked, folding his arms over his chest. “We must alert Aeolus, if the spirits have escaped him once more –”

 

Piper looked down at her feet. “Actually, he knows.”

 

Chiron waited.

 

“…he knew this whole time. Aeolus…he spread his dominion to practically all of Canada now. Not in some ‘conqeur-y’ way, he just wanted to keep the storm spirits in tow since a lot of them were popping up now.”

 

“And you knew this how?”

 

Piper saw Leo looking between her and Chiron, curious but also slightly worried.

 

She sighed. “I made a deal with Aeolus. We made a deal that he would send some storm spirits to me. So I could keep up with my training and he’d also have a way to get rid of the spirits.”

 

Chiron looked conflicted. Which meant that he stared at Piper with his sharp eyes for two seconds, and then looked out the window for the rest. “Your training,” he repeated.

 

“Yes,” she answered, willing her voice to remain strong. “I didn’t want to get…get weak while I was away. And…it helped was a way to get rid of…to release…” she struggled with the right term.

 

“Your frustration,” Chiron suggested. Piper nodded, looking down at her shoes again. “I see.” She could practically feel him watching her, but she didn’t want to see that indiscernible look again. She hated not being able to figure out what he was thinking. “Continue, please.”

 

Then she told him all she knew about Riley, Mags, and Alex. Just the basics, since she felt it wasn’t fair for her to reveal all their secrets (that was up for them to decide, if they were to talk with Chiron). But she told him about how they were trained by a legacy from Camp Jupiter, and that was why they had imperial gold swords (Leo vouched for this, saying they allowed him to keep them in the _Argo III.5_ ). She told him about how they had been killing monsters secretly for a few years in Seattle. How they saved her at the airport when the giants and the birds attacked.

 

Here, a twinkle appeared in Chiron’s eye. “Ah, yes, and this is where the game changes. As we are all aware, monsters are attracted to the high concentration of _ichor_ in demigod blood. But why would two fully-grown and, apparently, quite domestic, Laistrygonian giants attack only _one_ demigod? With a flock of Stymphalian birds?”

 

“Because she’s _speeeecial_?” Leo suggested in a sing-song.

 

“Because I’m not the only special one,” Piper said.

 

Chiron nodded. “Now to your friend. Alex May.”

 

It was better to just tell Chiron what she’d seen: Alex was strong enough to pick up the debris, without a single scratch on her. She was fast enough, precise enough, skilled enough, and _scary_ enough to kill one giant in less than five seconds, and make bloodthirsty birds flee for their lives. And, after all this, she’d been knocked out cold for the whole night and a bit of the day after.

 

“…she is a strange one,” Chiron murmured, rubbing his chin slowly as he thought. “And she says she has no godly parentage? Not a legacy of any kind?”

 

“Not that she’s aware of,” Piper replied. “Mags and I…we were thinking she probably is just a demigod or a legacy and she has no idea who she is. It’s not rare for parents to keep secrets from their kids.”

 

“Be that as it may…family is always a sensitive topic. To come forth with a theory like that, you would have to be careful. And if she is so strong in her belief that her parents are, and have always been, her only birth parents, with no godly ancestry of any kind…”

 

“But, come on, Chiron, have you ever seen anyone like that who _isn’t_ a descendant of a god?” Piper felt herself getting impatient, and she calmed down, trying to relax into her chair. The chair felt too soft, and she hated that sinking feeling. She sat on the edge. “In all your years of training warriors, heroes, _demigods_ …has a mortal ever matched that description?”

 

Chiron looked at her thoughtfully, a secret behind his eyes again. “No one that young. No one who has _not_ trained all their lives. Champions do not just sprout out of the earth, they are _made_. By time, or by the hands of fate. Whoever your friend is, I would advise us not to jump to any conclusions.” He paused. “But you said that she became increasingly tired after her fight?”

 

“Not just tired. It was like the energy was drained out of her completely. Like a battery.”

 

Chiron rubbed his chin again, mumbling behind his hand. Piper could just make out the words: “… _but that wouldn’t make sense_ …”

 

Maybe it was time to tell Chiron about the dreams too. But Piper held her tongue. She hadn’t even spoken to Alex May about that yet, and it wasn’t her place to mention. She really wanted to get this over and done with so Alex could finally come in and all could be revealed. “So we just have to ask her, then. If you talk to her, I’m sure she’ll spill something _or_ you’ll figure out something and then –"

 

Leo cleared his throat.

 

Piper and Chiron turned to him, as if just remembering he was still there.

 

“Okay, so…” Leo cleared his throat again, loosening his collar regardless of how loose it already was. “Piper,” he glanced at her, “I think we should tell him. About that… _extra_ thing.” Leo gestured tapping at his forefinger, like pointing at an arrowhead.

 

Piper pressed her lips to a thin line. _Now_?

 

“ _Yes_ now,” Leo frowned. “This is important. It’s a necessary clue.”

 

“But I thought –”

 

“Just because _you’re_ fine with investigating and working alone, it doesn’t mean _I_ am –” he stopped himself there, making himself busy with walking outside to get the arrow.

 

Piper was dumbstruck. Leo was… _mad_? For her wanting to work alone? To have her own plan she wanted to follow? And he was just bringing it up now, right in the middle of a serious talk with Chiron? _That’s rich_ , she thought angrily, coming from someone who didn’t even tell her he was alive for almost the same amount of time as her so-called ‘working alone’ –

 

When he walked in to the room with the arrow, Chiron jolted up, his centaur form practically leaping out of his wheelchair to pick up the arrow from Leo’s hands, inspecting it from point to nock.

 

“…by the _Gods_ , it can’t be…” he whispered.

 

“Chiron,” Piper said, trying to get his attention. “Chiron, what is it?”

 

The centaur stopped, holding the arrow tighter in his hands.

 

“This is the arrow that killed the giant?” he asked.

 

Piper nodded.

 

“Did you see who shot it?”

 

“No, but Bill did –”

 

“Bill?”

 

“The _giant_ ,” she added quickly. “He said that he was sent to find the ‘demigod child-child’ –” Piper suddenly remembered, feeling stupid for even forgetting in the first place. “And then – I dunno, I think the arrow came from the sky.” She glanced at Leo, who was just as confused as she is. He shrugged. He had nothing to add. The two demigods waited for Chiron to speak.  

 

But Chiron looked too distracted, staring at the arrow.

 

“Chiron,” Leo spoke up, his voice clear. “You have to tell us what’s going on.”

 

“You must bring Alex May in to speak with us. Now. She must tell us what she knows…” then Chiron did something Piper had never seen him do before. He frowned, an almost vengeful look coming over his face. “Or else, she’ll have Hades to pay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!! who is alex may estrada !!!
> 
> pls let me know what you think of the story guys! is the suspense still working? the plot, the characters? any and all comments would be appreciated, and im already so grateful for all the readers so far, thank you everyone!!


	7. Alex May Estrada

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one with the beginning of the truth.

**ALEX.**

 

There was one thing Alex could always rely on Riley and Mags to do, and that was to make an awkward situation a fun one. It was one of the things that made it really _work_ for them as a squad. Mags was the brains. Alex was the heart. Riley was the soul. Logos, pathos, ethos. All that jazz. She almost knitted sweaters with those labels on them once, when she was in her knitting phase.

 

And now, watching them shake the entire Amphitheatre with makeshift speakers from the Hephaestus kids, connected to DJ Riles’ _We Vibin’_ playlist – she figured her next hobby would be event planning. Or maybe that could be their business after all this monster and god stuff. Riley and Mags had personally invited every demigod with free-time for an impromptu dance party.

 

It was, as Riley called it, _God-Chella_.

 

He had already drawn up a logo with some paints provided by the Apollo kids. The canvas with _GOD-CHELLA TURN UP_ was stretched across the seats, everyone being too lazy to find a proper place to hang it up.

 

All of it was just the right amount of embarrassing that made it fun, and if she wasn’t so exhausted, Alex would’ve been down there dancing with them.

 

As soon as Piper and Leo disappeared, they were left to their own devices – which, in a strange, new place, was probably not the best thing to do. Sure they had Taki and Basil escorting them around. And the demigods were definitely nice. The _Hermes_ kids hadn’t pranked them yet, no matter how much Taki warned them about it. But they were so clearly, and undeniably different. Not just as mortals, but age-wise too. Taki explained that there were a lot more _older_ demigods now, but most of them were living on their own, had gone to college, or had transferred to New Rome.

 

She hadn’t felt so stared at since middle school. Riley, standing over six feet tall, and beginning to sport a five o’clock shadow. Mags, not as tall, but definitely looked more mature than most of the demigods. Her sharp look always made her look older than she actually was. And then Alex May, a nervous giraffe.

 

They weren’t the only older kids, of course. There was Mitchell, from the Aphrodite cabin, who was evidently Piper’s brother. He had immediately honed in on Alex when the Aphrodite cabin came up on their tour. They didn’t stay there for very long.

 

“…and this is Cabin Ten, home of the children of Aphrodite,” Taki had introduced.

 

“Looks like home,” Mags had frowned.

 

“Well, _hello_ ,” Mitchell had said, his eyes sparkling as he leaned against the doorframe with a smirk that made Alex blush.

 

“And _goodbye_.” Riley had steered Alex away before the son of Aphrodite could do any more damage.

 

When they were told they couldn’t do anything else, not the lava climbing wall, not the rowing, not even exploring the strawberry fields – the trio were left with the only thing they had in their arsenal. Music.

 

“So you actually pay Spotify Premium?” an Apollo kid had asked, she and two of her siblings sitting down next to them in the Amphitheatre. Their music-listening session had been going on for almost half an hour, and it had started to attract a lot of attention.

 

“Yeah, I get it paid automatically and stuff,” Riley shrugged.

 

“Do your parents pay for it?”

 

“Nope,” Riley shook his head. “I do.”

 

The Apollo kid turned to their sibling. She must’ve been only seventeen. “ _Gods_ , I should get a job.”

 

A few more demigods, questions, a Hermes kid’s secret stash of soda, and makeshift speakers later – they were in the middle of a full-fledged party.

 

Alex was sitting at the seats of the Amphitheatre, bobbing her head along to the music and sipping water, when Taki came to sit next to her.

 

“Do you guys always do this?” he asked, smiling.

 

“Sometimes. Not the partying part, but…we always play music when we’re doing something and not talking.”

 

“Like…?” Taki nudged her to keep talking. Even if they’d only known each other for about two hours, after almost pushing him into the lava climbing wall and making him deal with her trying to run around and see everything…she and Taki had made a connection.

 

“ _Like_ , when they just finished fighting monsters and they’re super tired but they won’t sit down until they’ve taken off their gear, cleaned it, and also cleaned their weapons.” Alex sighed. “And I’d be baking them something. Or cooking. Or just doing anything to make it easier for them.”

 

“So music…fills the silence?”

 

“Yeah, pretty much. It’s a comfortable silence, though.” She pointed out at the party. “This was an awkward one.”

 

Speaking of awkward, in the crowd, she spotted Mitchell smiling and waving at her and she quickly looked away. She didn’t know what his smirk meant earlier and she didn’t really want to find out.

 

“…and music fixed it,” Taki grinned.

 

“Fixed what?”

 

“The awkward silence.”

 

“Oh! _Yes_ , it did. It totally did.”

 

Taki tapped his hooves to the beat as the song changed to something more mellow. People took a break from the dancing and just swayed to the music, some of them singing as loud as they could.

 

“You know, satyrs can work with nature using music,” he piped up.

 

“Work with nature? Like, you make plants grow faster or something?”

 

“Yes, that. I guess it’s more like… _controlling_ nature? We can make plants do whatever we want. But I don’t really like the idea of _controlling_ them. The way I see it…the plants could always do that. Music is just the language that we use to…to…let them know how they could help us.”

 

Alex smiled. “Kind of like dancing?”

 

“ _Exactly_! Riley chooses the music that he knows people would want to dance to. Like this song right now.” They watched as people sang along to the lyrics, making wayward movements with their arms. “Who sang this?”

 

“…Ariana Grande, I think?”

 

“Nice,” Taki beamed. “I like Miss Grande.”

 

“So you guys have…no access to the outside world at _all_?”

 

“Nope. None of that Internet thing, or whatever.”

 

“But then how do you know what’s happening around the world?”

 

“People will tell us,” Taki shrugged. “Any new demigod that comes in. And visiting demigods, of course. But, hey, we’re not _completely_ helpless. I’ve been out in the world before. I’ve brought in a few demigods. I brought in Leticia,” he pointed at the Apollo girl who had asked Riley about his Spotify account. “I stayed in her school _four months_ before we headed to Camp Half-Blood.”

 

“Wait – you stayed in her _school_?”

 

“Why, yes! Satyrs are the protectors of demigods. We don’t come in there and steal you away from your life. At least, not usually. We just make sure you’re safe. And if you’re not… _then_ we steal you away.”

 

Alex nodded, pouting a little as she thought more about it. Satyrs protected demigods.

 

No matter how much she hated the very idea of having a different parent to the _only parents_ she’d ever known, she was really starting to consider it now. Even if she never had a satyr protecting her when she was younger (as far as she knew). Me, a demigod, she thought. It sounded ridiculous. None of it made sense. She was human. But then what else could she be? A legacy like Scott? As great as he was, Scott was more mortal than godly, and she really didn’t think legacies could be as _powerful_ as her…

 

She frowned, hiding the frown behind a swipe of her hand. She didn’t need Taki or anyone else asking if she was okay. But she hated thinking of herself as _powerful_. She preferred to think of it as _mechanic_. Something would press a button in her that turned on the ‘fighting mode’ and when it was turned off, the shut-down and reboot drained all her battery.

 

 _Yeah_ , that was it.

 

It was how Scott described it, at least.

 

“Fighting, training, picking up a spoon and learning to feed yourself with it –” he’d said, bringing Alex aside while trainers worked with Riley and Mags. Alex had been eighteen, freshly graduated from high school. She held the imperial gold sword firmly in her hand, her body knowing exactly what to do. But her face betrayed her hesitation.

 

“All of that is automatic,” Scott said. “ _Meant_ to be automatic.”

 

“But when I eat, I can control where the spoon goes. When I _fight_ , I can’t, it – it’s _too_ automatic.”

 

Scott furrowed his white-haired eyebrows at her, staring her down. “Then maybe you don’t need to control it. You just need to _time_ it.”

 

Her mother had told her differently. A hundred exercises, a hundred lessons on how to control her breathing, her stance, her everything. Now Scott was telling her to just _let it be_?

 

“What, so I’m a clock now?” she frowned.

 

Scott chuckled. “If that helps. Then you are most definitely a clock, Alexandra. Set yourself an alarm. Tell yourself when you should stop. When you should wake up. Until then, unleash your ability.”

 

Scott never _did_ tell her how to recharge herself afterwards. Riley never gave them the time. That was the last thing Scott ever told her.

 

“Hey, heads up,” Taki nudged her again, his nose sniffing the air. “I smell Leo.”

 

“You _smell_ Leo?”

 

“Oil. Burnt stuff. And I sense he’s a little tense.”

 

“Right. Okay…” Alex frowned. She stood up from her spot and cupped her hands around her mouth to shout at Riley. “ _TURN. OFF. MUSIC_.”

 

The demigods were singing along to the chorus of a Post Malone and Swae Lee song, so her shout was lost in the din.

 

Alex took a deep breath. “ _RILEY_ –”

 

Then the music was cut off entirely. There were a few groans of annoyance, shouts of ‘turn the music back on!’, and then Leo appeared at the DJ’s table, clearing his throat and holding the cords awkwardly in his hands.

 

Leo waved. “Hey, everyone, uh,” he pointed at the Big House. “Alex, Riley and Mags, you’re wanted at the principal’s office.”

 

Alex’s eyes widened. Taki let out a worried bleat.

 

**

 

They had left in an awkward chorus of _‘ooooooohh_ , you’re in trouble’ and Alex would have seriously preferred that over the tension in the room. For all the welcoming appeal of the Big House, and Chiron’s friendliness earlier, she really did feel like she was in the principal’s office. And that she was in _big_ trouble, only she didn’t know why.

 

She twiddled her thumbs nervously as Piper explained.

 

 _Piper_.

 

They had grown close over the last couple of days, and now there was that aching feeling in her chest, the feeling that all that now meant nothing as Piper told them what she and Leo had explained to Chiron. Her voice was steady, calm, like a soldier reporting to her commanding officer. It betrayed no emotion. It was the side of Piper that she struggled to understand most of the time. If anything, Alex thought being so _in line_ exhausted and annoyed Piper.

 

Nevertheless, Alex looked down at her lap, ashamed and disappointed.

 

The story seemed pretty standard. She was surprised Piper didn’t mention them knowing a Roman legacy or that they’d been monster-hunters for a couple of years. She got up to the part where Alex fought the giants (‘quite easily’ were the words Piper used) and then Chiron all but slammed the black arrow on the table.

 

Riley jumped at the loud sound. His face became furious for a second. “What the _hell_?”

 

Alex put a hand on his arm, reminding him to relax.

 

“I think it’s time you explained who you were, Alex May,” Chiron frowned. The kindness was gone in his voice. He wasn’t a mentor, or a caretaker anymore. He was an interrogator. “Do you know this arrow?”

 

Mags intervened. “She doesn’t have to explain _anything_ to you.”

 

“Unfortunately, she does,” Chiron stated, but he barely glanced at her. His eyes were trained on Alex, trying to find something, _anything_ , and Alex could barely keep her breathing straight. The voice in her head was back, the one that told her everyone hated her, and that she was an inconvenience they all wanted to get rid of. She gripped the armchair of her seat until her knuckles were white.

 

From the corner of her eye, she could see Piper and Leo standing together. “Chiron –” Piper began.

 

“No, Piper. Alex May is not who you think she is.”

 

“But shouldn’t we –”

 

“ _NO_ ,” Chiron remarked. He seemed to lose himself a little there, shocked at his own actions, but Alex had seen that same look once before. Desperate for the truth. She’d seen that same look on Riley countless times.

 

She really hoped he wouldn’t pick a fight with Chiron.

 

The centaur placed the top of his fists on the table, leaning on them as he hung his head. “Alex…” he sighed, his voice more controlled now. “Tell me. Do you know this arrow?”

 

All eyes were on her.

 

“No,” she said.

 

“You’re sure you’ve never seen it before?”

 

“No, _never_.” Her voice was stronger. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

 

“Have you touched it yet?”

 

Her brow creased. “No?”

 

Chiron looked up, eyes narrowed.

 

“I picked it up after the giant disappeared,” Mags spoke up, keeping her voice level but cautious. “And then it was in my bag, and I gave it to Leo on the ship. Alex hasn’t touched it.” Then she added in a murmur: “And now I feel like I really don’t want her to.”

 

All eyes went back to Chiron. He was now staring at the arrow.

 

“Alex, come forward,” he said.

 

It took a while for Alex to unglue herself from her chair, but she did. Riley took her hand and squeezed it for encouragement, but all her confidence slipped away as soon as his hand was gone.

 

“Do you see the markings on the arrow?” Chiron asked, when Alex was close enough.

 

She could see Leo trying to step forward to see the markings too, but Piper held him back.

 

Alex kept her hands crossed over her chest as she looked down at the arrow, careful not to touch it yet. The black arrow was a little longer than the arrows she’d seen at Scott’s home. The wood was smoother, and the shaft thinner. But the shaft had etchings along the wood, Ancient Greek symbols that – when she blinked – she could suddenly understand:

 

_Seek, avenge, destroy, for the honour of our fallen, to preserve the world._

And the chant repeated around the wood. She was surprised an arrow could fit so much.

 

“What does it mean?” she asked, looking to Chiron.

 

He looked at her, calculating. “Pick it up.”

 

Alex unfolded her arms. She hovered her hands over the arrow, feeling every eye on her again. The air in the room didn’t seem to be moving. Everyone, including her, was holding their breath. And then she picked it up.

 

As soon as she did, a searing pain jolted from her feet, all the way up along her body to her head, like an electric shock but a _thousand_ times worse and she screamed, dropping the arrow as her knees buckled and she fell.

 

But in her fall, another jolt struck her mind – in her eyes she saw an ancient city that burned, an _archer_ that glowed, and bodies… _bodies_ all around her. But what hurt most was the feeling of the electricity shooting back into her heart, surrounding it and making it feel heavy, full of a vengeance and anger that scared her – and then, she hit the floor.

 

** 

 

The burning city engulfed her mind. It was like she could feel the fire covering her, seeping into her eyes and mouth and scorching her from within. The fury of a thousand poor souls. And then the winds picked up, and she was lifted away. She could see her arm outstretched, reaching for the city like it wasn’t too late, she could still save it, she could still _change_ the future. And then she was at the edge of the sea.

 

A tall figure stood at the shoreline. A woman.

 

Her face was wrinkled. Her dark hair was streaked with grey, and it was so long it reached the ground. Her dress was a shade of blue that matched the colour of the sea exactly. It billowed around her, and with the tide coming in like it did, in time with the wind, she almost thought the dress itself was made of water.

 

She reminded Alex of her mother.

 

“ _They have found you now_ ,” she said, her voice breaking, as if choking back a sob. “ _They will try to take you from me. But you cannot give in. You must not. You must not forget who you were born to be_.”

 

Alex tried to open her mouth. Nothing came out but air, and it joined the wind. When she tried to walk towards her, the woman was swept away into the sea.

 

** 

 

At least she wasn’t out cold like last time.

 

Mags had caught her before she could hit her head on the floor. Piper and Riley were at her side. Keeping her eyes open was a struggle; the ceiling light suddenly seemed too bright and the pain along her leg felt like _fire_. She could see Riley getting up and shouting at Chiron, even going so far as to try and shove against the centaur’s chest, but Leo pulled him away.

 

“We shouldn’t have come here, this was a _mistake_ –” Riley fumed.

 

“Alex?” Mags patted her shoulder. “Alex, are you okay?”

 

Alex gulped. She shut her eyes tight and then opened them again, breathing deeper to psych herself up as she sat up. Mags still supported her with an arm, but Alex was fully conscious now, rubbing her eyes to get rid of the white spots and then trying to massage her leg.

 

“Why does –” she winced, “why does my leg hurt so much? What did – what did the arrow do?”

 

Chiron walked over to his desk, picked up something from what looked like a candy jar, and then stepped towards her. “Give her some room, she’ll be fine,” he said, his voice back to calm.

 

He handed her a pink bar that looked like a brownie.

 

“Are you sure?” Leo asked, alarmed.

 

“I think you’ll find that she’ll survive this. It’s what she sorely needs,” Chiron said. Then he looked to Alex again. “It’s ambrosia. Eat. You’ll feel better.”

 

Alex stared at the brownie-looking bar, and nibbled at the corner of it. As soon as the crumbs melted in her mouth, it was like breathing in a good gust of oxygen – immediately, she felt more alert and less ill.

 

“It tastes like…” _Polvoron_ , she wanted to say, but didn’t.

 

“I wouldn’t eat it too quickly,” Chiron pointed out. Alex nodded, chewing on the bar slowly, her strength coming back by the second.

 

“So what, you’re okay with her now after you knocked her out?” Riley accused.

 

“No, Riley. Her falling unconscious wasn’t my doing. I simply saw what I needed to see.”

 

“And what _did_ you see?” Piper asked, sounding almost as accusatory as Riley.

 

“This arrow, this _black_ arrow.” Chiron picked it up from the floor, where it lay close to Alex’s feet. She pulled her legs away from it. “There were dozens like it. Only _dozens_ , you see. Not hundreds. They were made from a special wood. A wood only found from one tree.”

 

The centaur paused, holding it out to the rest of the group, but no one dared touch it now. “There was a mother arrow, if you will,” he continued. “It was found in the ruins of Troy and then planted and blessed to grow a tree that would produce more arrows like it.”

 

“Wait,” Leo’s eyes widened. “ _Troy_?”

 

“These arrows…they’re not very special in the sense that they have some extra ability. They can’t pierce through a shield, or withstand fire. No. They’re more…symbolic. Made for a specific purpose.”

 

Everyone waited. Chiron hesitated, looking almost _sorry_ for Alex for what he said next:

 

“When touched by a descendant of Achilles, that descendant is reminded of the pain of their ancestor. The shot that killed him. But you would’ve seen more than that, I believe.”

 

Alex froze. Everyone looked to her again, and then back to Chiron. After all his warmth, and then anger, and then confusion, the centaur was beginning to look less like a wise warrior, and more like a tired, old man.

 

“And I…I apologise for my behaviour, Alex, but you must understand…I thought I ended your line over a hundred years ago.” He paused. “You’re not meant to be here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that’s who alex may is ! at least, that’s how we’re starting with it. 
> 
> was the reveal underwhelming, overwhelming, or just the right amount of whelming?
> 
> hopefully it wasn’t too quick. without spoiling too much, there is still a lot to uncover and I thought having a chapter from Alex’s perspective would be good. is it too distracting having multiple points of view? 
> 
> i’m not sure how many chapters there will be with multiple POVs, but since piper is still the main character here, i think I’ll just state the name of the person at the top of the chapter when it’s not piper, if that makes sense? so all the piper chapters will be normal, and if it’s alex then it’ll say so!
> 
> let me know if reading from alex’s perspective works, and also if there’s anything you’re dying to know asap – which backstories should I explore more? Alex, Riley, Mags? Chiron? :O 
> 
> hope you enjoyed the chapter! i’ll try not to leave you hanging for very long 😊 thank you for reading!!


	8. Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Piper has to remember.

Alex’s ancestor was named Flynn Stockett. Chiron killed him during the Civil War.

 

A Roman demigod, Flynn was the one who led the rogue army of Romans who supported the Confederacy. It was a history Piper and Leo were already vaguely aware of, how some of the Romans were Confederates, and the Greeks largely fought for the Union. But Chiron further explained: the Greeks and the Romans had avoided confrontation for three years, and all they had of each other were rumours. Iris messages that were cut off. Council meetings cancelled at the last minute. Communication lines interfered with. Threats made. Camp Jupiter cut themselves off from the world and Camp Halfblood was fortified with the help of all the inventions sprouting from Bunker Nine. Festus was designed with stronger armour, and he guarded the Hill. Gods picked and chose sides.

 

It would have been just like any other war, but as soon as Chiron knew that a descendant of Achilles was leading the charge, extra measures had to be taken.

 

“What’s so dangerous about descendants of Achilles?” Alex asked.

 

Her face was tired, but her eyes were still sharp, showing that she was still thinking. Pushing herself to stay awake, to pay attention to this nightmare unfolding -- but not actually _scared_. Piper had seen Alex scared over much less things. Like the director yelling at her, or someone slamming the door too hard. But now, Alex May just looked resigned to her fate. She was over it.

 

Piper tried to catch her eye, to tell her that she was still here (that they _all_ were), but Alex didn’t look.

 

“Perhaps it is better to call them _legacies_ ,” Chiron explained. “Unlike demigods, legacies are not direct descendants of a god. They are the further generations of gods, or demigods. They are more often recognised at our sister camp in Camp Jupiter, where the Roman demigods live.”

 

She saw Alex, Riley and Mags avoid his gaze. Chiron still thought they didn’t know about Camp Jupiter. Piper was already getting a headache from all the things they knew, still had to know, and still had to say.

 

 _Jesus Christ_ , she thought, massaging her forehead.

 

“But they are _dangerous_ because...” Chiron continued, “...they exhibit all the best qualities of Achilles and warp them into something dark. Like taking the warmth of the sun and shaping it into a burning dagger. Achilles was known as the _shield_ of an army. It was the common belief that any battle Achilles fought, he would win – and this was true, too, for his legacies. But somewhere along the line, after Alexander the Great, Achilles’ line became too ambitious. Desperate for glory. _Bordering_ on bloodthirsty. All the things Achilles courted but managed to avoid, until the end.”   


The centaur paused, deep in thought. “It…the dramatic change has always remained a mystery to me. Perhaps this was always his and his children’s destiny. But every major war in human history has had one aspect of it led by a child of Achilles. That is, until the end of the Civil War.”

 

“I remember Percy told us about the Curse of Achilles once,” Leo spoke up, “and how _he_ had it. I – I can’t believe we never thought about it before,” he looked to Piper, shocked. “Percy told us all about how he got so exhausted, how he felt _too_ powerful.”

 

“You’re right, Leo, and Percy would have also told you about how the Curse amplifies a demigod’s fatal flaw. Achilles’ flaw was always his need for glory, and his prejudice against his enemies.”

 

Piper frowned. Just as Leo reminded her, everything came flooding back. That one night the _Argo II_ team spent around the campfire, after all the food and songs. All the old stories of the war against Kronos. Jason’s stories with the Roman legion. Percy’s stories of Manhattan. And how he’d willingly submitted himself to the Curse of Achilles.

 

She _should_ have remembered. And then it hit her.

 

“So why don’t we just bring Alex to the Tiber River? That’s how Percy got rid of the Curse, right?” she asked.

 

“Yes, _but_ \-- ” Piper had never hated the word ‘but’ more, “-- Alex May and her family are not cursed. Not in the usual sense, anyway.”

 

Alex frowned, her hands nervously clasping each other. “I...don’t get the difference.”

 

Chiron bowed his head, taking a second to think. “It may be similar to how...children of Athena are born with an innate fear of spiders. This is due to their mother’s encounter with Arachne. It’s something that’s just built within them, and isn’t a spell or curse that can be lifted.”

 

“So this whole murderous warlord thing is just built within me?”

 

Chiron realised his mistake. “No. _No,_ Alex, I was foolish and wrong to treat you that way, and I cannot apologise enough --”

 

“No, it’s okay, it’s fine -- I just don’t --” Alex folded her arms, unfolded them, and then folded them again. “I just don’t get how you could be so sure that all of Achilles’ descendants are like that. _After_ Alexander the Great,” she added quickly, in case anyone was going to correct her. No one did.

 

“It was what we came to expect,” Chiron sighed. “In the Siege of Jerusalem, Quirinus was at the front of the Roman army’s wedge, destroying the Second Temple. In the time of the Crusades, there was Malcolm Jacobs. 101 killed by his sword. The Napoleonic Wars had Estelle Boucher, who disguised herself as her ill husband and took his place as captain of his company. All of them led their people to many victories, and merciless death for their enemies. And all of them -- the accounts of these three, in particular -- describe them as quiet and mild-mannered until it seemed like a _switch_ was turned on that eventually made them unstoppable.”

 

Alex closed in on herself.

 

“And the arrow?” Riley asked. He’d been so unnaturally quiet Piper almost forgot he was here. He was still sitting next to Alex, he and Mags on either side of her, but now there was a gap of space between him and Alex. Piper couldn’t yet figure out why that seemed so strange.

 

“The Amazons,” the centaur answered. “Achilles killed their queen, Penthesilea, during the Trojan War. They made it one of their missions to track down dangerous legacies of Achilles and...do whatever was necessary to subdue them. It was the Amazons who recovered the arrow that killed Achilles, before his funeral pyre. They grow the tree and create the arrows when they are needed.”

 

“And they needed them for me?” Alex asked.

 

“You said they shot the arrow at the giant?” Chiron turned to Piper, and she hastily nodded. “Then no, I think...I _believe_ that was more of a warning sign. To show that they were aware of you.”

 

“Because they weren’t sure,” Mags guessed, sounding hopeful. Piper didn’t want to say _too_ hopeful. “They weren’t sure if Alex was even the kind of Achilles kid that was dangerous. Because we all know she’s _not_.”

 

Chiron hesitated. “…the Amazons know more about it than I do. They’ve been…secretive about their operations regarding the line of Achilles. All the knowledge of his line, I accumulated over the years for my own peace of mind. I was Achilles’ trainer but he was also my _friend_ . Perhaps they thought I was too close to the situation to have an opinion. But they did give me the arrow to incapacitate Flynn. I’d shot at him, and he _caught_ it. As I said before, these arrows are like any other, but for the curse upon them that makes descendants of Achilles recall his pain. It is the only thing we know that stops them long enough. So Flynn, when he caught the arrow, felt the same pain Alex May did, and once he was down, we captured him and…” his sentence trailed off. Everyone guessed the ending to that story.

 

The room fell quiet.

 

Piper looked to Leo, who only gave her a short glance before continuing to fiddle with a paper clip in his hands.

 

She looked to Mags, who had her scrunched-lips-thinking-face on. Probably thinking of ways to prove Alex’s innocence. And then there was Riley, who looked too overwhelmed for words. Piper couldn’t tell yet what he was thinking.

 

And then Alex.

 

Piper had heard of ‘dangerous demigods’ before. She’d dated one, and been friends with countless others. She’d heard of heavy family histories. And she was no stranger to fate or destiny, or the terrible feeling that nothing was in her control. But she didn’t know how Alex felt about all that stuff. She assumed Alex was just content with living, with singing and baking and taking care of Riley and Mags. She always _looked_ like she was okay with that. Like she was ready for anything life was going to toss at her, no matter how anxious she got. And now that Alex was silent, Piper wished she had asked. How simple would that have been?

 

_Hey. So. Destinies. Swipe left or swipe right?_

 

Then she would’ve known how to help her.

 

“So…” Alex spoke up again, waking up the whole room. “How did you know you had no choice but to kill Flynn?”

 

“The American Civil War, as you all might recall, lasted for several years. However, between the two camps, the real confrontation only began in 1864, and lasted several days. And everything seemed worse because…” Chiron’s expression became pained. Piper had never seen him look so haunted. “Because they were all children. The oldest must have been only eighteen. Flynn was nineteen,” he added. “We had older campers come in to help on the last day, and even some of the Romans came in to fight against Flynn’s rogue army, but there was so much confusion and Greeks began to attack any Roman in sight.” The centaur closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and sighing.

 

“It was too bloody. Too _much_ . And Flynn Stockett killed so many. _Anyone_ who tried to stop him. Early in the battle, I had captured one of his men. Whom I believed to be his _right-hand_ man. I held him right here,” Chiron held his arm out to the space next to him. Piper imagined a Roman boy of sixteen. She tried not to imagine Jason’s face. “I held him by the collar of his armour. We stood atop the Hill. Flynn was down near the strawberry fields. And I offered to talk peace, in exchange for the freedom of his compatriot. But Flynn...Flynn threw his spear, and he killed him. Killed his own friend. And we knew then, there would be no peace. Not for a boy like that.”

 

And the story seemed to finish there. Piper allowed herself to relax. She’d been standing so rigid, but now she slumped against the bookshelf, not caring anymore about what was behind her. She and Leo locked eyes again. An invisible conversation happened between them:

 

 _I’m sorry_ , Leo seemed to say. _For what I said before._

 

 _Me too_.

 

Piper took Leo’s hand and squeezed it, before letting go.

 

Everyone waited for Alex to say something again. Even _Alex_ seemed to. She looked left and right, waiting for Mags to come up with something logical, or Riley to break the tension. But when no one did, and she realised she was on her own, Alex May stood up from her seat on the floor.

 

Wobbling a bit, she steadied herself against the table that had the black arrow on it. Her eyes flickered to the arrow for a second before setting themselves on Chiron.

 

“Thank you,” she said, her voice wavering only once. “Thank you for letting me know. I’m...I’ll try not to be like that,” she added, her gaze dropping to her feet. “I just need some time alone. I...I need to think.” Alex took a sweeping look at all of her friends before walking out, only saying one more thing: “ _I’m sorry_.”

 

Once she was gone, Chiron told the rest of them to exit the Big House the back way, and he followed Alex.

 

**

 

The Aphrodite table had less people sitting on it in the Dining Pavilion so Piper gestured for Leo to sit with them. But just as Leo stood up, Mitchell waved for him to stop and Leo almost tripped trying to balance himself.

 

“Oh, my _Gods_ , Mitchell --” Piper rolled her eyes. “Who _cares_ about the rules --”

 

“ _I_ care. Jedediah got in trouble for trying to sit with the Hermes kids again and the harpies chased him off to the lava climbing wall. And then _all_ the Athena kids had clean-up duty.’

 

“...fair enough.”

 

Piper motioned for Leo to join her near the central fire. They both stood with their plates in their hands. Leo had roast chicken, vegetables, and a slice of bread that looked suspiciously like banana bread. He tore off a piece of the bread and some chicken into the fire.

 

“There you go, dad,” he mumbled.

 

Piper scraped off some of the vegetables and pasta on her plate, dedicating the offering to her mother. She’d enjoyed this meal once, when she explored New Rome with Annabeth. There was also a donut and some fruit on her plate, but she figured Aphrodite would appreciate the fruit more. It went into the fire.

 

When she asked him where Calypso was, he said she’d taken Festus somewhere, and that he’d explain where later.

 

“But it’s going to help. Hopefully,” he said.

 

“If it means more people thinking about this, then I’m all for it. I thought we only had monsters to deal with. Now we have the Amazons? And all this stuff going against Alex...how did Percy and Annabeth and Grover deal with all this when they were just thirteen? Fourteen?”

 

“Actually, I think Grover was, like, twenty-eight.”

 

“Still. I can barely handle storm-spirits and three mortals --”

 

“But you _did_ handle them.”

 

“You call one of my friends suddenly coming up as the next in line for Greatest Killer of All Time as ‘handling’ it?”

 

“Well, it’s not your fault.”

 

Piper frowned.

 

“ _Hey_.” Leo looked at her pointedly. “Lightning McLean.”

She gave him a warning look.

 

“You love me,” Leo said, through a mouthful of _chicken_ . “And I love you. And the team loves you. And you know what else? You really gotta remember to love _yourself_.” He pointed at her heart.

 

“Now I _really_ hate you.”

 

“-- are you talking about the Justin Bieber song?” Lacy piped up. She and Mitchell appeared on either side of Leo and Piper, both with their own plates and looking pretty happy with themselves for popping up out of the blue.

 

Piper groaned. “What do you guys think you’re doing?”

 

Mitchell shrugged. “Hanging out with my _dearest, darlingest_ sibling and her best friend.”

 

“Guys,” Leo beamed, “can you please tell Piper she’s freaking awesome and needs to give herself more credit?”

 

Mitchell and Lacy looked at each other and repeated, at the same time: “Piper, you’re freaking awesome and need to give yourself more credit.”

 

Piper stabbed a pasta spiral with her fork. “That wasn’t freaky at all.”

 

The two children of Aphrodite scraped off part of their food into the fire, and then Mitchell said: “Anyway. We came over ‘cause you guys look like a fate worse than death.”

 

“I guess you really were in trouble at the principal’s office,” Lacy said sadly. “Or was it just the mortals? I like them a _lot_ , by the way.”

 

“We weren’t _really_ in trouble,” Leo said. “it was more like...Chiron telling us all the possible terrible things that could happen because of the stuff we did.”

 

“So basically _every_ meeting with Chiron?” Mitchell asked.

 

“Basically.”

 

“Does that mean they’ll have to go?” Lacy gasped.

 

“Who?” Piper blinked, only half-listening to their conversation.

 

Lacy nudged her gently. “Your cute friends. Alex, Riley, and Mags.”

 

Piper shared a look with Leo: _I really can’t handle talking about this now_. And he thankfully answered for her. “Not sure about that one, Strawberry Shortcake. I’ll tell you this, though. I’m pretty sure Chiron likes them too. So you won’t have to say goodbye to them anytime soon. Then again, if something changes last minute, don’t blame me ‘cause I can’t actually see the future,” he added, like a salesman speeding through the terms and conditions in a commercial.

 

“Now. Why’re you asking anyway? You plannin’ on working your love potions on one of them? Riley’s taken, you know. I know how you like us curly-haired short boys,” Leo teased.

 

Lacy threw a salad leaf at him.

 

“Yeah, I figured they were dating each other. Children of Aphrodite, remember,” Mitchell said. “But they’re pretty subtle about it. Which I totally respect. Remember when Sherman and Miranda first started dating and they were just laying the PDA everywhere? _Ew_.” Then he glanced at Piper before continuing: “As a side note, I’m pretty sure Alex May is taken too.”

 

Piper narrowed her eyes. Mitchell just smirked. “And Lacy would’ve _noticed_ all this,” he poked her, “if she wasn’t so caught up in her _own_ emotions.”

 

“ _Ugh_ , this is so annoying,” Lacy huffed. “When are you going to bring _single_ people over here? I thought everyone at university was lonely and single!”

 

“You wouldn’t like them, Lace,” Piper chided. “And they’re too old for you.”

 

Lacy pouted, smoothing her hair down with her hands. A habit she had when she was feeling down. Piper remembered Drew used to point out all the kinks in Lacy’s hair and force her to straighten them before Piper shouted at her about it.

 

“Is it true that they’re monster-hunters?” Lacy asked.

 

Piper nodded. “Yeah, they are.”

 

“Is that, like, their _job_?”

 

“I think they _think_ it’s their job.”

 

“Huh. Where _are_ they anyway?” Lacy asked.

 

“At the Hermes table.” Mitchell answered before Piper could. Again, she narrowed her eyes at him. Maybe Mitchell was getting _too_ confident. “Only Riley and Mags, though. Dunno where Alex is. But I heard Riley’s going back to the Amphitheatre for the campfire sing-along later, and he’s gonna make some plans with Leticia and Harley. Something about hacking Spotify or making Halfblood-tunes, or whatever.”

 

“ _Awesome_ ,” Leo and Lacy said at the same time. The two demigods high-fived. As the two started talking about their favourite music, and other ways to incorporate more music around Camp, Mitchell shuffled around Leo to speak to Piper directly.

 

“ _‘Sup?_ ” he grinned.

 

“What do you want?” she frowned.

 

“What, I can’t just stand here in front of a warm fire and talk to my sister and ask her how her day was and stuff?”

 

“You could, but you never want to do that. So what do you want?”

 

Mitchell tapped his fingers along the bottom of his plate, making a _rapping_ sound that reminded Piper of when cartoon villains would rap their nails evilly on a table.

 

“Alex May,” he said.

 

Piper arched an eyebrow. “You want _Alex_?”

 

“ _No_ ,” he rolled his eyes. “I want to talk about her. And you. Her and you.”

 

“Mitchell.” Piper stared at him. “Do you know who you’re talking to?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“So you should know I already hate this conversation.”

 

Piper finished the rest of her pasta, stabbing the vegetables and the spirals with her fork, before messily stuffing them into her mouth. The plate immediately filled up with her dessert: a certain sweet powder. She immediately thought of something else. The plate swapped it for chocolate cake.

 

She started walking around the pavilion, trying not to kill her brother in front of everyone. She probably didn’t look as threatening as she wanted to, with chocolate icing all over her fingers, but the look in her eyes was enough to make nosy demigods look away.

 

“But you should _also_ know that I’m not blind,” Mitchell said quickly, catching up to her, “and, as Aphrodite’s son, I have _full_ awareness of human emotions, and you’d be _dying_ to hear what Alex May is feeling --”

 

“I don’t want to know! I don’t want to know, Mitchell. As Aphrodite’s _daughter_ , I don’t want to know!” she swatted her hand at him. He avoided the chocolate icing with a yelp.

 

Piper licked the icing from her fingers.

 

“Okay, you wanna make a bet?”

 

“ _No_.”

 

“ _Ugh_ , Piper, you can be so _mean_ sometimes --” Mitchell shook his arms and shoulders, like he was holding in too much excitement and was going to burst at any second. “This is the most _exciting_ thing that’s happened all year and now you don’t even want to talk about it? You have to tell me your secret. I’ve been _dying_ to get Ellis to notice me, and you had Jason, tell me: how do you get all the _cool heroes_?”

 

Piper turned around, stopping Mitchell in his tracks.

 

Her eyes flashed and Mitchell gulped.

 

“I _do not_ get all the heroes. I never wanted them,” she snapped. “And you know that. So stop talking.”

 

She continued walking, not even looking behind to see if Mitchell was following. She headed for the central fire again, leaving her plate and unfinished cake back at the Aphrodite table as she walked by.

 

Piper clenched and unclenched her hands, trying to ignore the churning feeling in her stomach. It was probably just bad vegetables. As if that was possible in Camp Halfblood. But, no, it _had_ to be bad vegetables and not something even worse like refusing to confront all these emotions Mitchell kept talking about.

 

Back at the central fire, Piper had ten more minutes of quiet with Leo and Lacy (she saw Mitchell stay back at the Aphrodite table, talking with Taki the satyr about something), before all the demigods eventually left the Dining Pavilion. She knew they were all headed to the amphitheatre for the nightly campfire. She actually _loved_ the campfire sing-alongs. But she needed to calm herself down and figure herself out before she faced anyone again.

 

Mitchell and his stupid emotions-radar.

 

Alex May and her stupid _polvoron_.

 

The gods and their _stupid_ \--

 

“Hi,” said Mags, slowly coming up to stand next to Piper.

 

“Uh, hi.” Piper crossed her arms over her chest.

 

“You okay? You look a little spooked. And annoyed. More so than usual.”

 

“No, I’m fine. Just...thinking.”

 

Mags did a weak chuckle. “ _Just thinking_ ,” she repeated, doing quotation marks in the air with her fingers. “Yeah, I’ve said that before.”

 

They stood in silence for a short while, staring into the fire.

 

“You know...the last time Alex fought,” Mags began, her voice small. “Before we made her promise not to fight again...we went on this road-trip around America. I’d finished my Communications degree so it was all spring break stuff,” she rolled her eyes. “And everything was fine. You know. The usual. Alex killed monsters before we even got to them. I drove the car and Riley navigated. Alex slept in the back. We got to _Washington_ ...happened upon this group of...God, I can never remember the name. Tel... _Tele_ …?”

 

“Telekhines?” Piper offered.

 

“ _Yes_. Those. Anyway, we came upon a whole pack of them. Way more than just three monsters that could be stabbed. We were getting outnumbered. And...they’d lost me,” Mags’ smile faded completely. “All I could remember was a bunch of monsters overwhelming me, and then pulling me away, further into these mountain caves, I -- I couldn’t even remember how or why they got me. And then I just heard all this shouting. And suddenly all these telekhines around me...they disappeared. And instead of being covered in telekhines, I was covered in blood.”

 

The image of the Roman sixteen year old soldier came back to Piper’s mind. A golden spear sticking out of his chest. Chiron horrified, the boy’s blood on his hands.

 

“And Alex wouldn’t stop fighting. She kept trying to kill them even when they were already retreating, we -- we had no idea what to do. We just kept begging her to stop, to just come back to us and help me out. And when she finally heard us -- she did. And she came back to us, and collapsed at my feet.”

 

Then Mags’ face hardened.

 

“I have more reason to believe that Alex can turn evil and unstoppable, more reason than anyone else. Riley and I do. This was before we even knew about this whole Achilles thing. All we had to go on was our friend could turn into this insane killing machine. But we chose not to believe that _that_ was all she was. We couldn’t stop her, but we trusted her to stop. And she did. I just...I just hope you haven’t lost faith in her. Please don’t,” Mags looked straight at her, searching for her reaction.

 

Piper looked right back. She saw the truth in Mags’ eyes; Mags believed in Alex a hundred per cent. And didn’t have a single doubt about it. And Piper knew her well enough to know that, if Mags felt Alex was in any real danger in Camp, she would leave without a moment’s notice and take Alex with her. She’d protect her herself. That was what she and Riley did.

 

She knew what she should say: that fate was a weird thing in the world of gods and monsters. That sometimes they had no choice but to just go with it. No matter how hard they tried, as Piper knew all too well. And you lost people, and you lost lives. She tore her gaze away from Mags to look back into the fire.

 

And in the flames, she saw impossible things. Visions of a figure standing on a stage, singing with her arms held out. Four people walking together. Hands exchanging a bowl. A smile that glowed brighter than any light, any flame, any star.

 

You could lose faith in destiny, fate, and the gods, Piper thought. But not _people_ . Over the years, Piper had begun to put her faith in _people_. And people had never let her down. So she wasn’t going to let them down either.

 

"I'm not going to lose faith in her, Mags. In any of you. We're all in this together now, so...I got you." Piper's smile was small, but it was a  _promise_. She looped her arm around Mags'. The other girl laughed with relief, wiping the corner of her eye, and Piper began to lead them both out of the Dining Pavilion and towards the amphitheatre.

 

When she turned back to the central fire, she saw a little girl sitting there, picking up a fallen piece of chicken. The girl waved at Piper, and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that finishes the big reveal! for now! 
> 
> i hope all my things about the Civil War are okay, as far as I remember they didn't really get into too much detail about the Civil War in the books, so there was some room to play around with that.
> 
> hope everyone has enjoyed it! so much is already happening and there's bigger things in store so just stay tuned :) please leave a comment if there's anything you'd like to see, or anything i should improve on. thank you always for reading ❤️


	9. Flour Baby Death Marathon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Harley has a new idea.

It was all Mitchell’s fault.

 

Somehow, word had gone out that Alex May was  _secretly a demigod_. And by ‘somehow’, Piper had caught Mitchell eavesdropping on her and Leo’s conversation around the campfire. Even when she’d threatened to confiscate his ten-step Korean skincare routine, he still went ahead and told everyone what he’d heard. Which was only:  _Alex is potentially dangerous, but she’s our friend, so what can we do? How do we help her learn to control her fighting?_

So, naturally, Mitchell made his own conclusions. Later, when Piper confronted him about it, he argued that it was better that everyone knew what was happening if Alex was as  _dangerous_  as they were talking about.

 

“And something about Amazons...?” he’d asked, arching an eyebrow.

 

The skincare routine was now in her locked trunk.

 

Among the other campers, it actually started with everyone wondering if  _all_   _three_ mortals were demigods. At breakfast, one of the Apollo kids sprinkled ambrosia crumbs on their pancakes. Taki  _freaked_ , swiped the pancakes off Riley and Mags’ plate, and the dryads showered the entire Apollo table with orange juice.

 

All through the morning, stories had been swapped about how the mortals were monster-hunters and fearless. Leo was the source of the Laistrygonian giant story (“You gotta give them  _something_ , the people demand an answer and, like, it’s  _true_  anyway, so don’t hit me –!”) and then imaginations ran wild from there.

 

Bored demigods were truly a force of nature.

 

Piper was just glad Harley hadn’t gotten in on it. Yet.

 

By lunch, everyone had now moved on to claiming Alex May as theirs. Camper attitudes had truly changed in the last four years, and Piper barely noticed it until she’d been gone as long as she was. Cabin rivalry was still there, but in a healthy competitive way. Everyone was more welcoming of newbies. It was demigods for demigods. Demigods against the world.

 

Harley was still resident mascot, now twelve years old and still as buff as ever. She never thought there could be anyone more loud than Leo, but here was his brother raising the bar. The boy dedicated a toast to Riley and Mags at the end of breakfast and wished Alex a speedy recovery. And he also hoped she would be there for his  ** _flour baby death marathon_**  that afternoon, whatever that meant. All the campers groaned.

 

Alex May still hadn’t woken up from her sleep, but Piper wasn’t worried. When it got to one o’clock and Alex still hadn’t stirred,  _then_  she would be worried. But still there was that impatient, heavy feeling inside her, like she should be doing something and not just going about her camp-life as usual. She could hardly concentrate on her Ancient Greek. She didn’t even know  _how_  she got to Ancient Greek class with Basil, but once she’d wandered in, he kept her there.

 

At lunch, with the no-sitting-at-other-tables rule now being enforced by all the head counselors, it was deafening and hilarious watching everyone shout at each other from their different tables.

 

“Who else is tough enough to defeat a giant like that?” Ellis remarked, banging his fist on the Ares Cabin table.

 

“Being tough doesn’t automatically make you a child of Ares!” Laurel Victor protested. “She could be ours!”

 

“I don’t see why you guys are  _stereotyping_  her as violent and sporty just because she’s a good fighter,” Priya Gupta, a child of Iris, snapped.

 

“She’s athletic  _and_  musical --” Kayla Knowles quipped.

 

“She likes food,  _and_  she bakes, so she could be a child of Demeter,” Billie Ng suggested positively.

 

“Why don’t we throw her at a  _karpoi_ and see how they react?” Meg McCaffrey shrugged, apple juice spitting from her mouth as she munched on the fruit.

 

“ _NO_ ,” everyone shouted.

 

By one o’clock, everyone was back to training or crafting or working on the forge, and everyone was wondering what happened to Alex. Cecil Markowitz was the one to update everyone outside the Hermes cabin, looking so serious and grim everyone wondered if Alex had somehow died in her sleep.

 

“ _No_ , thank Hades, she’s just…” Cecil wrung his hands together, “... _super_  tired.”

 

She couldn’t blame him for feeling so uncomfortable. A tired Alex usually meant a looking-on-the-verge-of-death Alex. Only Nico had that effect on Cecil once.

 

When Riley and Mags went in to try and speak with her, they stayed for five minutes and told Piper that she would be coming out in a while. Piper waited with Leo and Taki. Then Leo had to go check on something in Bunker Nine, and Taki had to meet with Basil and Chiron. And then it was Piper waiting alone, sitting at the steps of Hermes’ Cabin.

 

She waited for a maximum of twenty seconds before deciding to snoop around the windows, to at least get a glimpse of Alex.

 

_This is stupid_ , she couldn’t stop thinking.  _Why don’t I just go inside and talk to her?_ Piper huffed, shaking her head at herself.  _Because I don’t want to bother her. Because even Riley and Mags couldn’t get her to come outside so how could I? And maybe she’s just actually tired. But maybe she’s sick. Maybe she..._

 

She peeked inside the farthest window, finding Alex lying down on a lower bunk bed. Alex hugged a pillow to her face, her eyes and forehead just visible. Her short hair was sticking up, and stringy and oily-looking. Her brows were knitted together so tight, Piper thought she might have been in pain. All of a sudden, she didn’t want to say anything or bother her at all. If Riley and Mags said she would be out soon, then she would be out  _soon_. The voice in her head told her something else:  _maybe she needs you._

Piper was lifting her foot to take one step back when she heard another voice.

 

“Stalker,” Alex mumbled. She blinked one eye open.

 

Piper smiled thinly. “Morning.”

 

“ _Afternoon_.”

 

“How’re you feeling?”

 

“Murderous.”

 

Piper didn’t answer. Clearly it was a joke, but she didn’t want to be the one who misread the situation.

 

“It’s the spirit of Achilles within me,” Alex continued. She yawned, stretching her arms up and touching the wooden bars of the bunk above her.

 

Piper still didn’t answer.

 

“And asshole Davy Crockett.”

 

Still no answer. She looked less like death now, and more like someone who just woke up from a flu-ridden sleep.

 

Alex groaned. “ _God_ , please insult me, this is already weird enough.”

 

“...I want to but I literally can’t think of anything to say.”

 

"The great Piper McLean. Speechless."

 

"Sorry, but that's what hearing about a historic killing machine does to me."

 

Alex laughed.

 

She watched Alex sit up in her bed, and then lie back down, groaning again.

 

“I think you’ve had too much sleep," Piper said.

 

“Old habits die hard.” Alex sat back up again. She rubbed her eyes and stared at the opposite wall. “...I don’t want to do anything. But I’m hungry. But I  _don’t want to do anything_.”

 

“You should eat. And definitely have some ambrosia.”

 

“Don’t they…” Alex yawned again, “close up the Dining Pavilion?”

 

“Not really. Your adoring fans will get you the food anyway.”

 

“My  _what_?”

 

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” Piper smiled, leaning her arm against the window. With the glass windows open, all that was left between them was a flyscreen. “You’re famous. You’re the new favourite hero. An overnight sensation.”

 

Alex groaned, mumbled incoherently, and then slapped her hands on her face.

 

Piper’s smile softened. Now she wished she actually  _had_  gone inside the cabin. “Are you ready to come out yet? It’s okay if you’re not.”

 

Alex dragged her hands down her face. She paused, taking her time to think about it.

 

“...I will. Soon.  _I swear_ ,” she added, looking up at Piper for the first time. “I just need some time to get ready and look...less like a mess. Can you...ask Taki to meet me outside the girl’s bathroom?”

 

Piper’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Taki?”

 

“ _Yeah_.” Alex stood up from bed, wobbling a bit, and then approached the window. “I dunno, but somehow it’s really easy to talk to him. Like, uh, he gets me instantly.”

 

“Oh. Yeah, sure--” she added quickly, trying to cover up her sad little ‘ _oh_ ’, especially now that Alex could see her clearly. “That’s satyr powers for you. Coach Hedge does the same for me sometimes. When he’s not yelling.”

 

“Coach Hedge…?”

 

“I’ll tell you about him later.”

 

Alex smiled. She put her hand on the window and tapped her fingers gently on the dirty flyscreen, scrunching her nose at it. Piper stepped closer.

 

“And _we’ll_  talk more later too,” Alex said. “I have something to tell you.” They held each other’s gaze for a second, and then Alex had to go.

 

“Remember to tell Taki, okay?” Alex called out, when Piper had already left the window.

 

Piper rolled her eyes, not looking behind but lifting her hand in acknowledgement. She was smiling too much to speak.

  

**

 

There were too many campers to have everyone do Harley’s flour baby death marathon at the same time. Chiron wanted to avoid a stampede, so after a bit of talk and agreeing to make the marathon longer and more difficult -- Harley finally accepted.

 

It was in the middle of him explaining the  _relay teams_  aspect that Alex appeared with Taki. They’d been walking among the strawberry fields for what felt like hours, when really it was just  _one_ , and Piper had hoped they would be able to talk before the marathon. But with the marathon now beginning, their talk would have to wait.

 

She heard Harley's  _first_  three-legged death race had resulted in missing limbs. Hopefully, at the end, she'd still have an intact head to talk to Alex with.

 

She could barely keep track of what the boy was shouting. “LISTEN UP _, KIDS_. This isn’t amateur hour--!” Harley commanded. With his hands on his hips, he looked like he was puffing his chest out as far as it could go. “I don’t want anyone lollygagging and I don’t want anyone  _cheating_ , or you'll pay the consequences!"

 

"What consequences!" someone shouted, sniggering. 

 

" _I'LL SIC A KARPOI AT YOU, THAT KINDA CONSEQUENCES_!"

 

Everyone turned to see Peaches at Meg’s feet, salivating and stamping his hands on the ground. No one wanted to be turned into  _karpoi_  chow.

 

“And remember your baby! You will love, live, and breathe that baby! Show your baby! ”

 

Lacy lifted the Aphrodite cabin’s flour baby over her head. She’d taken the time to draw her a pretty face, with perfect makeup.

 

Piper sighed sharply. So all the team members had to finish their leg, AND pass on the flour baby as unharmed as possible. Otherwise, it was game over. Okay, she thought.  _Okay, okay, okay, okay_ …

 

With over a hundred campers here, and 7 in each cabin, Harley and Chiron made it so there were ten groups of two cabins partnered together. The Aphrodite Cabin was paired with Hecate’s, Hebe with Demeter, Iris with Nike, Dionysus with Apollo, Hephaestus with Nemesis, Ares with Hypnos (“ _CHIRON_! Clovis isn’t even awake yet!”), and Tyche with Athena (everyone said this was  _definitely_  unfair). Only the Hermes cabin, and the unclaimed demigods remained had their own unmixed teams. Riley and Mags joined the team of unclaimed demigods. Mags was already leading the group, an encouraging smile on her face as they talked strategy. Riley looked like he was trying to do the ‘We Will Rock You’ beat on his chest-plate to psych them up.

 

All the demigods were expected to wear their armour, and were allowed to use any magic at their disposal, and any weapon. Piper adjusted the strap of her helmet. It was basically Capture the Flag but as a race and with more competition  _and_  they had to save a sack of flour with a face on it. Ellis had already hit Clovis with the sack to wake him up so their flour baby burst open. A satyr had to run to the judges’ area to get a new one.

 

Yet in spite of all this chaos, Piper was actually finding it fun. It was a _team-building exercise_ , after all.

 

There were three legs to the marathon. At each leg, they were supposed to find an object to further accessorize their flour baby (“And I’ll  _know_  if you cheat,” Harley warned, “because I  _know_  what the accessories are meant to be so don’t even  _TRY_ , Aphrodite Cabin --”).The first was through the training fields at the foot of the Eastern Hills. Harley said there would be all sorts of exploding, stinky, razor-y, obstacles there. The second was through the dunes, with exploding, razor-y,  _sandy_ , obstacles, and also a swim in the Sound (Piper could practically hear the water nymphs giggling, waiting to drown them). The third, and last, leg was through the woods, with all the cabin members (at the same time) placing their flour baby on the cradle in the Combat Arena. It almost sounded like the easiest leg if you didn't count all the monsters waiting and Gods know what else.

 

So. Easy peasy.

 

“Don’t worry,” Chiron said, “we placed the accessories in the woods with Harley during lunch, and the area is safe. Well. As safe as it can be.”

 

The teams were given some time to plan their strategy. They were allowed to place any number of campers at each leg, but no one was allowed to do more than one.  _All_  campers had to finish their leg. No one could be left behind.

 

Among the Aphrodite-Hecate team, Piper was placed at the last leg in the Woods, along with two children of Hecate: Lou Ellen and Tony. She was glad to have Lou Ellen on the team, but the  _last_  time she met Tony, he’d been experimenting with a  _wand_  he invented and...

 

“No more blackholes this time, I swear, I’ve worked out the kinks,” Tony waved around a wand with intricate symbols etched along the wood. Lou Ellen confirmed the wand was definitely  _better_  this time around.

 

At the swimming and dunes leg were Mitchell and the other Hecate kid, Luca, and starting the marathon was Lacy and Dottie. The two were already whispering about defensive technique and distractions, comparing their strategy to Mario Kart races, which Piper was actually pretty proud of. When planning was done, everyone gathered at the foot of the Athena Parthenos.

 

The statue seemed to glow even brighter under the afternoon sun. Piper squinted at it. The statue stared. Something else glinted at the corner of her eye. She saw Alex May sitting with Chiron and the satyrs at the foot of the statue. Pegasi were also resting there. After their leg was finished, campers were free to follow along with the marathon on foot, or they could ride a pegasi to follow them. But they couldn’t help their fellow team members. With Piper being at the last leg, she, Lou Ellen and Tony, had no other choice but to wait for the marathon to come to them.

 

After a lot more talking, Alex May whispered something in Chiron’s ear. He grinned, nodded, and held his hand out to the gathering of demigods. Piper saw Taki’s face drop. Alex May picked up armour, a sword, and her own flour baby from Basil. Basil and Chiron shared a look. That _‘ah, good thing we came prepared because we knew this was coming all along’_ look. Basil explained quickly to Harley before the boy could explode, and then Harley coolly nodded his approval. Piper couldn’t believe them.

 

Alex jogged to the line-up, ten groups of demigods all waiting for the go signal. The rest of the teams would disperse to their starting positions soon.

 

She positioned herself next to the team of unclaimed demigods, at the far end of the line. Riley and Mags were off to the side; Piper assumed they would be in the second or third leg. Mags cheered when she spotted Alex in line, doing her stretches.

 

“ _ALEX? ALEX, OH MY GOD --_  ” Mags screamed, clapping and whistling while Alex tried to hide her embarrassment. She put on her armour and tested the swing of her sword. Even at this distance, Piper could already see the twinkle in Alex’s eyes. Alex hopped around on her toes, continuing her stretches.

 

Mags’ demigod partner, Fiona, shook her head. “She’s not on our team! Stop cheering for her!”

 

Mags just cheered harder.

 

Riley had looked stunned for about five seconds before continuing his ‘We Will Rock You’ beat, banging his sword on his chest plate while his partner clapped.

 

Lou Ellen laughed.  _Everyone_  was starting to notice Alex now. The Ares-Hypnos team were beckoning for her to join them, but Alex just shook her head.

 

“She’s not doing this whole thing  _solo_ , is she?” Lou Ellen asked.

 

Piper shrugged with a knowing smile. “Guess so.”

 

Harley shouted that it was time for the first team to organise themselves on the starting line, and for the second and third teams to go to their places. Piper wished Lacy and Dottie luck, and Lacy quickly hugged her before going back to the line.

 

“Remember!” Harley boomed through a megaphone. “You’re allowed to kill your competitor’s baby!”

 

Pegasi would drop the second and third teams off at their places. She saw Riley’s jaw drop as he mounted his pegasus, Piper thought he might actually  _cry_. But before she mounted her own, she took one last look at Alex May.

 

The glow was back, surrounding Alex, as she went into a sprint start position at the starting line.

 

“Piper, we have to go!” Lou Ellen tugged on her sleeve. “Mitchell’s already gone, and the race is about to start!”

 

“Okay,  _okay_  --” Piper mounted Lou Ellen’s pegasus, “but wait, I just wanna see this --”

 

Lou Ellen grumbled, keeping the pegasus in mid-air.

 

All the demigods seemed to be shaking with nervous energy, excited for the race to finally start. Chiron shot the light arrow into the sky. It exploded in a burst of green sparks and a  _BOOM_  sound.

 

The teams launched forward, pumping their legs as fast as they could carry them. The field was filled with the sound of twenty demigods thundering across. The table with the accessory on it could just be seen at the end of the field. They did nothing but run for a hundred metres, and then suddenly the ground exploded.

 

“ _Piper, we’re going!_ ” Lou Ellen led the pegasus into the sky. Piper kept looking back, grinning as she saw Alex running and jumping through the chaos, completely free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the shortest chapter I have so far! but this marathon is so jam-packed I thought it was better to split it up. hopefully the game makes sensE. god action scenes are hard to write when there's like a hundred demigods to keep track of why did i do this
> 
> lots of things are brewing so far. don't forget, calypso went away to get someone she thinks will help. AND the amazons are, presumably, still after alex. AND now there's piper and alex 👀
> 
> the next chapter will be up soon !! more of the flour baby death marathon coming your way !! who are you rooting for ??


	10. I'm Positively Ecstatic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where there's a radio announcer.

(TWO DAYS AGO.)

Piper sat next to Alex, both girls leaning against the bed in the latter’s cabin. They watched the sky go by through the porthole of the _Argo III.5_. Alex tapped her feet against Piper’s.

 

“Do you know how weird it is to have Guillermo Del Toro as your godfather?”

 

“ _Sort of_ godfather,” Piper corrected.

 

“Oh, of _course_.” Alex rolled her eyes.

 

“As if having Usain Bolt at your birthday party and _giving you a pet turtle_ isn’t weird too?”

 

“Hey, that’s what you get for having an Olympian as a mom.”

 

They stared at each for a beat and then burst out laughing.

 

“Wait, though --” Piper tried to stifle her laughter. “So your mom really was…?”

 

“Oh, yeah. Three-time gold medallist for the Women’s Marathon, representing the United States of America,” Alex said dramatically, putting her hand on her heart.

 

“And she trained you and everything.”

 

“ _Yep_. Hardcore. My school didn’t have a girl’s football team so my mom did a petition and everything.”

 

“Did you even want to play football?”

 

“Nope. But I did one season.”

 

“And the team, won?”

 

“Obviously.”

 

“Amazing.”

 

“I really liked running, though. I did all the races. Relays. Sprinting. Marathons. I did long-jump too. Beat the school record.” Alex did a halfway dab and Piper snorted.

 

“My mom wanted me to love sports as much as she did. And I _was_ , don’t get me wrong. But I hated the competition part of it. I just wanted to run and have fun. I love my mom but she can get really… _ambitious_. Competitive. I won’t even talk about karaoke scores,” Alex laughed. Then her laugh faded away, something shifting in her eyes.

 

“After the accident…she was really lost. For so long. She wouldn’t eat, she couldn’t sleep. It was only three years ago that she started training for the Paralympics, though,” Alex smiled. Piper mirrored her smile, hugging her knees to her chest. Alex chuckled again. “And, of course, the competitive streak came back. But _luckily_ , by that time, I was already going off to uni so she couldn’t make me run laps at five in the morning anymore.”

 

“So that’s where it all comes from then? All your elaborate stretches?”

 

Alex’s cheeks flushed. Piper burst out laughing.

 

“You’re not supposed to --!” Alex nudged Piper and Piper’s elbow fell onto her plate of donuts. “Make fun of someone’s --! _Way of exercising_ \--!”

 

“ _And forward, and back! And forward, and back! And reach for your lunch!_ _And back for a nap!_ ”

 

“I only said that out loud _ONCE_.”

 

** 

 

(PRESENT DAY.)

 

_“And it’s positively a MINEFIELD out here, folks, you wouldn’t believe! Campers dodging left and right, and upsy-daisy, and -- OH! A near-miss by the beautiful Chiara, of Tyche. Green slime definitely won’t go with that eyeshadow! At least smoke-bomb grey goes with our orange t-shirts, brought to you by our sponsor, the Camp Halfblood Store --”_

“No commercial breaks! JUST DEATH!”

 

“ _And back to your regularly scheduled program! The first leg is going amazingly, I’ll tell you that. And to our listeners waiting at the other legs, just you wait until it’s your turn! Remember, kids: take care of your flour baby, but first and foremost, take care of your own!”_

 

Piper caught Mags’ eye and both of them shook their head at the radio. Leo and Harley had installed one radio at each start of the leg, so the campers waiting could still be updated on what was happening. So far they’d heard that the Hebe-Demeter team had almost lost their flour baby when a mine full of shrapnel exploded, but Paolo Montes, a child of Hebe, had blocked the shrapnel with his shield. The commentary had been: _our favourite, sun-kissed, son of Tyche, protecting his baby with his wonderfully sculpted biceps_.

 

Piper had _no_ idea who was doing the commentary, but they seemed to be in love with almost every camper somehow and had a perfect fifties radio host voice.

 

“ _\-- and a SPECTACULAR leap by Virgil Porter, vaulting over a pool of lava, on the way to rescue his team-mate, Tram Nguyen from the blockade of Ares kids trying to stab at her flour baby -- a WONDERFUL effort by the Unclaimed Demigods so far!_ ”

 

Mags cheered and hugged her team-mate, Fiona. But Fiona, probably stung by being called ‘the Unclaimed Demigods team’ had a less excited reaction. She continued tinkering with her watch.

 

“Ugh, I hate not seeing anything --” Meg McCaffrey grumbled, spinning her siccae blades around out of boredom. “Why couldn’t you have made a _TV_ instead, like a _real_ sports thing --"

 

“Hey!” Leo protested. “I’ll have you know, Chia Girl, that was our first idea but we all decided that it was better to have a radio since that’s more realistic for an actual battlefield. You have to learn to trust what you hear -- and it’s also a way to learn how to describe battle situations well.”

 

“Talking about Paolo’s biceps is a good battle description?”

 

Leo paused.

 

“It’s a good _description_ ,” he said.

 

Piper laughed. She didn’t actually mind the radio idea. That way, she could focus on the environment while still listening in on what was happening.

 

The third leg was meant to be through the woods, but since they hadn’t started yet, all the campers were kept just outside it. Satyrs kept watch of them, stopping campers from trying to sneak in to get a head start on the surroundings. Mags got caught a couple of times. Piper felt sorry for Mags the most; almost everyone here had ventured in the woods at least once, but this would be Mags’ first time. She was actually facing away from the radio and looking into the woods, as if trying to learn the layout of the forest by pure osmosis.

 

While they waited, Piper explained the woods to her as much as she could. She was waiting for something else anyway. She was surprised Alex hadn’t been mentioned much this whole time, other than: “ _Oh! There goes Leticia, daughter of Apollo, trying to get at Alex May Estrada’s flour baby -- Gods, what a long name. Can I just call her Alex May? All-righty then! Alex May! --”_

She would’ve thought something _SPECTACULAR!_ or _WONDERFUL_ would’ve happened by now, but it seemed as if Alex May was just part of the crowd like a regular participant.

 

And then:

 

“ _And we’re coming up to the end of the first leg, folks, the Tyche-Athena team’s the first to get OUT of that chaos in mid-field. It seemed as if a Crazy Eight of mines have gone off and it’s caught all the campers off-guard! Chiara and Neale grab the first accessory on the table -- a wonderful hairclip -- and have attached it to their flour baby. No harm to the team or the baby, as far as we can see -- they’re heading to the start of the second leg -- this may be another victory for the Blue Team from last week’s Capture the Flag -- who put these two cabins together, anyway?_

_Who will be the next team to win? Is that the Ares-Hypnos team? Oh, my GODS! They’ve put everyone to sleep! But it seems the effort has knocked out Dale, son of Hypnos, as well -- there he is being carried by Trevor, the resident nice kid of the Ares cabin -- what a guy, what a doll. BUT WAIT! Someone’s coming from the edges of the field! They’ve managed to dodge the sleep spell! It’s Alex May!”_

 

Mags spun around from her staring of the forest, crawling towards the radio.

 

_“She’s run for the Ares-Hypnos team and knocked them over like a couple of bowling pins! Holy Hera! That’s what you get for huddling in a group! And, hang on -- what’s she doing? She’s fiddling with one of the minefield bombs -- IS THAT EVEN LEGAL?_ ”

 

All the third-leg campers heard a boom. Piper saw the mushroom cloud rise from over the hills.

 

“ _By the GODS! She’s set off the bomb to wake everyone up! An UNBELIEVABLE act of sportsmanship! Now everyone’s grabbing for their accessory and are off to the second leg! And now a word from our sponsor --”_

“ALEX MAY!” came Harley’s voice, booming through the radio. Leo clamped his hands over his ears. “That was super cool but _NOW_ you’re gonna PAY for CHEATING --"

 

_“And, undeterred, Alex May blows a kiss to the judges’ stand before she heads off to the dunes! And, by Aphrodite, is that a blush, Harley --?”_ There were some choking sounds. “ _I’M JUST DOING MY JOB --"_

Piper and the rest of the third-leg campers laughed.

 

Then a loud horn sounded.

 

The announcer coughed. “ _That’s the start of the second leg!_ ”

 

** 

 

Part _one_ of the second leg was rather uneventful.

 

Sure, Julia Feingold almost lost a leg from the metal monster hiding in the sand dunes -- and Mitchell almost drowned in quicksand. Luca had to pull him out with Alex’s help. It was uneventful by demigod standards, at least.

 

And then it was a dive into Long Island Sound.

 

The radio announcer explained that water nymphs were holding onto the accessories, one for each team, and the campers were meant to chase them around in the Sound. The nymphs were allowed to swim a hundred feet out into the water, and stay as long underwater as they could. Piper thought that was pretty tame. Most of the demigods could swim anyway, and from the sound of the radio, they all seemed to be having more fun than they should be, laughing and playing in the water.

 

The main danger with the water nymphs was their flirting, but other than that, they were as helpful as the satyrs. Piper, herself, still had quite a good relationship with the nymphs. Whenever she wandered off to think and be alone (this happened a lot after Jason), the water nymphs would chase people away. They even chased off _Percy_ , and they adored him.

 

Piper lied down on the grass.

 

“-- _And is that Mitchell Blanchett in the water, dancing with a water nymph? Oh, what a smooth turn this has taken, now EVERYONE’S flirting with the water nymphs!”_

There was a faint scream in the distance and then a splash. Some of the third-leg campers walked forward towards the hill, trying to see, and the satyrs blocked them.

 

_“Riley, one of our mortals, seems to be staying on the beach and is holding off WELL with the metal monsters. He looks like he’s dancing from the way he’s hopping about, holding tight to his flour baby! And WHOA that’s Adele Waters flying towards the -- well -- water! A NASTY throw by our bronze kraken there which is only a prototype, apparently. Can’t wait to see what Bunker Nine comes up with next! I am currently wetting my pants!”_

 

Ellis Wakefield shook his head. He kicked at the grass. Adele was his little sister, and though they hadn’t heard anything about the Ares-Hypnos team yet, he was already acting like they’d failed.

 

_“And the following teams now have their accessories: Aphrodite-Hecate, Iris-Nike, Dionysus-Apollo, and Alex May! Talk about a league of her own! She chased that nymph out to the edge of the water and it looks like she got more than just an accessory there, folks! Is it possible to get a nymph’s phone number? Do nymphs have phones?”_

Piper pulled a face.

 

_“It looks like the real challenge’ll be in the woods, dear listeners. The second leg’s just about wrapped up. All the teams are heading back to the shore and -- hang on, what’s that in the sand? Harley, is this another one of your creations? Wait, is that --? Hold on to your pegasi, folks! THE MONSTERS ARE HEADING TO THE SEA!”_

Piper heard faint screams in the distance.

 

_“And they’re even faster in the water! Out of the sand, we’ve got clear visuals of the Gothic creations Harley and his team have created for us -- and we’ve got what looks like a bronze squid! And the kraken! By the Gods, it’s huge! And a swarm of seahorses, ah, that’s what was biting your ankle earlier, Riley! AND HE’S BEING DRAGGED INTO THE WATER! ALL OF THEM ARE!”_

Mags gasped, putting her hand over her mouth.

 

“ _They’re stealing the accessories! The squid’s got the accessories! The SEAHORSES have the accessories! Why doesn’t the kraken take the --? HOLY MACKEREL! THE KRAKEN’S EATEN LUCA DE LA MOTTE!”_

 

It was Lou Ellen’s turn to gasp. Then she jumped up from her spot, trying to get to the hill to see, but the satyrs held her back. Tony led her down to the grass again, trying to convince her that their little brother hadn’t just been eaten and was probably just in some sort of net inside the monster.

 

“Harley wouldn’t actually make them eat us, right?” Tony asked, doing a half-hearted laugh. No one answered.

 

“Guys?” he asked again. “Right?”

 

_“Now, I’ve got some schematics here with me, folks -- for the listeners at the legs, what we see here is that the kraken is about as big as a trireme -- with a mouth the size of Ellis Wakefield’s ego. Which is BIG. It takes about two demigods at a time and drops it in its mouth before diving underwater. And from the looks of these plans, it doesn’t look as if that chamber inside the monster is waterproof. And no possibility of prying that mouth open from the inside either, this locking system is too advanced for me, but maybe a demigod can find a solution! Gee golly, I hope those demigods can hold their breath! At least it resurfaces every few seconds for some air --”_

A bronze kraken automaton that drowned its meals instead of eating them? If this was only the second leg, Piper could only wonder what was waiting for them in the woods.

 

“This is insane, Leo, they might actually _die_ \--” Mags said.

 

Leo just crossed his arms tight over his chest, rubbing his chin and staring hard at the radio. Piper knew he’d probably made most of these monsters with Harley. He couldn’t say anything.

 

“ _Seven demigods eaten and the Tyche-Athena and Ares-Hypnos team have now teamed up to fight the squid to get their accessories back, and the rest are trying to nab the seahorses! Unclaimed demigod, Sun Kim, has grabbed their accessory and is now trying to evade the school of seahorses! Is a group of seahorses called a ‘school’? Your announcer doesn’t know! Hang on -- what’s Alex May and Riley doing at the shore over there?”_

Piper and Mags sat up to pay attention.

 

“ _Riley’s --! What’s he doing? No, seriously, what’s he doing? He’s taken off his armour, he’s wading into the water, he’s SINGING? What’s he singing? ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’? A mortal singing ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’ to a kraken. Well, this announcer’s officially seen it all. Stop clapping, you fool, get out of there!”_

Mags slapped her hand on her forehead.

 

“ _Everyone seems to be having trouble here, folks, they’ve either been eaten, tired, or losing their mind like our dear mortal over here. But, wait -- what’s Alex May doing? She’s running on the beach? No! She’s running to the water! The kraken’s heading for Riley! Alex May’s taken a leap! Good Gods, she’s leapt ten feet into the air, twenty feet across, and --! Straight into the kraken’s mouth!”_

Everyone stopped.

 

_“It looks like this second leg may never end, folks. I’m never one to lose hope, but this seems like it’ll be a real struggle. Demigods and water and monsters? A deadly battlefield! Who will make it out alive? Will this marathon end before dinner? I’m starving! And dinner this evening is brought to you by -- whoa, whoa, whoa -- what’s going on? Bringing this to you live as it’s happening, listeners -- the squid has malfunctioned. It’s eye is blinking rapidly. The seahorses have also stopped, they’re shaking in their spot. And what’s happening with the kraken? It’s --? It’s mouth is opening!”_

Piper had a feeling…

 

“ _It’s --! Can you believe it, it’s Alex May! She’s got the mouth of the kraken open. Pried it open with her bare hands! Will you look at that strength! The kraken’s sparking from the inside, the demigods are swimming out! Alex May’s destroyed the kraken! Harley is pissed! She helps the other demigods get their accessories before the automatons sink into the ocean! Now Harley’s REALLY pissed! Watch out, third-leggers, they’re coming to YOU!”_

 

** 

 

In the woods, Piper figured out who was doing the announcing and how they were doing it.

 

It took her a while to recognise the voice, before she realised it was Basil with an amazing knack for accents. She was surprised to learn from Tony that Basil was actually _younger_ than Taki. He acted so strict and stoic. She’d never even seen the satyr do anything more than grimace, and she thought _he_ thought that was a smile. He’d once said ‘I’m positively ecstatic’ with a straight-face, and she didn’t think he was joking. Only when he said ‘I’m positively ecstatic’ in the commentary did she realise it. And, deciding no one else in the whole of Long Island said things like ‘I’m positively ecstatic’…

 

She was saying ‘I’m positively ecstatic’ too much in her head.

 

Basil the Announcer followed the main action via mechanical birds that worked like cameras with built-in radios. Now that all the teams were split up into different parts of the woods, looking for their accessories, each team had a bird and the commentary was a little more erratic.

 

“ _Hermes team -- off to a great start with an unharmed flour baby --”_

_“-- probably not good to wash the dirt off your baby in the river, Ellis --”_

_“-- could the Dionysus-Apollo team please stop pissing off the wood nymphs? Thank you --”_

_“-- and now the flour baby is drenched, well done, Ellis -- we will not be getting you another one. Is a drenched baby still alive? You tell me!”_

Piper tried to swipe at the bird following them, but Lou Ellen stopped her before she could do any real damage.

 

They took turns holding the flour baby. It remained relatively unharmed, except for a wet patch near the head -- but it seemed as if Mitchell kept it above his head for most of the time, or floating in his helmet. The way he’d thrust it into Piper’s arms, looking like a madman, still made Piper snigger.

 

The third leg’s objective was to survive the woods, find the _correct_ accessory for their team, and then head to the Combat Arena. And to add insult to injury, Basil was now announcing the success of the teams.

 

Thirty minutes into the woods, and an announcement sounded:

 

“ _The Iris-Nike team have taken an accessory!_ ”

 

Lou Ellen groaned. “This is a little too Hunger Games for my taste.”

 

“Don’t say that, you’ll just jinx us,” Piper said.

 

“Hey, if you get jinxed, that’s on you.”

 

“Can you do a spell to track the accessory?” asked Piper, making a point to face Tony and ignore Lou Ellen. The daughter of Hecate rolled her eyes.

 

“I could _try_.” Tony took out his wand, took a deep breath and then --

 

“ _Actually_ , this is a really simple spell, Tony, I’ll do it --” Lou Ellen put down his hand. Tony pouted.

 

Taking out a notebook from her pocket, the pages flipped by themselves and stopped in the middle. Lou Ellen muttered an incantation, and a gust of wind burst from the notebook. The trio waited.

 

“…nothing,” Piper commented.

 

“Patience,” Lou Ellen said.

 

“I _am_ patient, and there’s nothing.”

 

“I can tell you’re not so huge on magic,” Tony pointed out, hugging the flour baby close to him.

 

Piper shrugged. “I can deal with magic as much as the next demigod, but I’d rather keep things simple.”

 

A twig snapped and Piper spun around, holding her sword out.

 

“Calm down, it’s the spell.” Lou Ellen pointed at the footsteps on the ground, crunching on dried leaves, grass, and twigs. “Follow the steps. They’ll take us where we need to go.”

 

Piper sheathed her sword. “Better not accidentally lead us to a monster.”

 

They followed the steps down-river. All three demigods kept an ear out for any sounds out of the ordinary. When they thought they heard trees whispering, Piper told them to cover their ears with their hands and they all skirted around the territory of the Grave of Dodona. It was also a good way to avoid Myrmeke’s Lair. But as they passed by, and took a look at the entrance -- it was quiet.

 

“Huh,” Tony said, “maybe they’re off to eat someone else.”

 

The steps kept going, and going, until suddenly -- it stopped in the middle of a clearing in the trees.

 

“ _The Dionysus-Apollo team have found an accessory!”_

“Eight more teams left, not too bad,” Lou Ellen assured them.

 

_“The Hebe-Demeter team have taken an accessory!”_

 

“Seven more teams?” Tony gulped.

 

“ _The Unclaimed Demigods have taken an accessory!”_

 

At least Mags was doing okay.

 

Piper kept her eyes on the footsteps, which seemed to be deciding whether to go left or right. And then it stopped in the middle, and disappeared in a puff of wind. She watched the leaves fall down lamely, and then turned expectantly to Lou Ellen.

 

The girl raised her hands in surrender. “My mom’s the goddess of crossroads, sometimes the feet can’t decide where to go, so it just stops!”

 

_“The Hermes Team have found an accessory!”_

Tony wrung his hands together, his wand tucked behind his ear. “Oh, no, this is going to take forever -- are we supposed to go through the _whole_ forest? We went through the whole North Woods, there was nothing --!”

 

“Tony,” Lou Ellen patted his shoulder, “calm down --”

 

“Oh, Gods, we’re going to be last, mom’s gonna be mad at me because I screwed up --”

 

“Tony, you haven’t even _done_ anything --”

 

“That’s the point!” he exclaimed, still hugging the flour baby tight.

 

“The baby’s going to _explode_ if you don’t let go --"

 

Piper decided to leave the two siblings alone for a second, and ventured out to the edge of the clearing. Something seemed to be moving there. A large figure in the trees, moving slow. There was a glint in its body. And it seemed to be heading towards them.

 

The camera-bird perched itself on a tree branch, watching the scene unfold.

 

“Guys…I think we have a situation here.”

 

The silhouette of the monster moved forward, facing them now. The glinting thing shined even brighter now that it was catching sunlight. The closer it moved towards them, the more light shone on it.

 

“Do we run? Why don’t we just run, it’s so slow,” Tony whispered.

 

“No…” Lou Ellen squinted at it. “I think…I think that thing’s got out accessory.”

 

Sure enough, as soon as it emerged in the clearing, the huge monster had what looked like a tree branch tied to its horn.

 

It looked like a huge bull, it’s head drooping so low, it actually looked sad. It stopped at the edge of the clearing. The demigods took a step back anyway.

 

“Are you sure that’s our accessory? And is that even a monster?” Piper asked.

 

“Yes, and yes,” Lou Ellen answered. “I recognise that branch. It’s a yew branch. Tony made his wand out of a yew tree, and it’s a good conductor of magic. And it also has some flowers on it, and…that monster’s super stinky, but I think I smell a perfume.”

 

Piper took a moment to sniff. Past the pungent odour of the monster…she smelled Chanel No.5.

 

“Yep, that’s ours,” she frowned. “And the monster?”

 

“Give me a second.”

 

Lou Ellen separated from them, walking around the circular clearing so she could see the side of the monster. She peered at its head.

 

“Okay, so…” she whispered, heading back to the team. “It’s either a really depressed bull, or…it’s a catobeplas.”

 

“A catobeplas?” Piper repeated, puzzled.

 

“Super stinky bull, but if you look at it, it can hypnotise you, and if you smell the odour too much, the fumes can kill you.”

 

All three of them held their arms to their noses. Piper had her hand on the hilt of her sword.

 

“So…do we attack…?”

 

“It looks peaceful,” Tony said, “why don’t we just ask it to give us the accessory?”

 

The two children of Hecate looked to Piper.

 

Piper frowned. “What, you guys don’t have a persuasion spell up your sleeve?”

 

“Not as strong as charmspeak,” Lou Ellen pointed out.

 

Fair point.

 

“Okay, um…” Piper kept her arm to her nose, but she made sure her mouth wasn’t blocked and she could be heard clearly. She focused her energy on the monster, keeping her breath steady, her centre calm. “ _Catobeplas? Are you listening? Will you be our friend? You have something we need. You should help us.”_

 

She hadn’t used charmspeak in so long, she thought she’d almost lost the ability. But the words she spoke flowed out of her so easily, and she could see the monster’s drooping head sway a little. The threads holding the accessory to its long horn started to loosen.

 

“ _That’s right, that’s it. You let us go, and we’ll let you go. Let us have that branch. Let us go.”_

The swaying continued until the threads loosened entirely and the branch fell to the ground next to the monster’s feet. Piper saw Tony do a silent cheer from the corner of her eye.

 

“ _Thank you, catobeplas, now let us come over to you and --”_

She stopped when she saw him lift his head. It was so slow but somehow so entrancing, and she could barely hear what Lou Ellen was screaming --

 

“Don’t look it in the eye!”

 

Tony pulled Piper to the ground, and they crawled out of the monster’s line of sight. Piper grabbed the fallen flour baby and held it to her chest. She made sure not to face the bull when she looked up again, but now there was a layer of green smoke along the ground, and Piper coughed at the smell. Any stink she inhaled made her lungs burn and she coughed even harder.

 

Lou Ellen was still standing, and looking straight at the monster.

 

Hypnotised, she started walking towards it. Slowly.

 

Piper heard the monster gnashing its teeth. The sound was worse than nails on a chalkboard. It had Piper’s nerves on edge. Tony pulled her up, back to the trees, and they rested against it as they thought of a plan. The green smoke hissing from the catobeplas’ open mouth seemed to rise higher. Even Lou Ellen was starting to cough, her steps getting weaker.

 

“I’m using my wand,” Tony huffed.

 

“You don’t even know if it works properly!”

 

“It’s going to work, it _has_ to --” Tony lifted the wand and pointed it at the catobeplas. Shocked, Piper looked around to make sure the monster wasn’t looking at him. But it had only eyes for Lou Ellen.

 

“Do you even know what you’re going to do?”

 

“ _Yes_. I’m gonna blast this stupid guy all the way to the strawberry fields.”

 

“Okay, but -- don’t blast Lou Ellen as well. Make sure you’re aiming right.”

 

Tony grit his teeth. “I know.”

 

“And…focus your energy on the one thing. Don’t make it too big.”

 

“ _I knooOOOoow_ ,” he said in an annoyed sing-song.

 

“Just concentrate, Tony --”

 

Tony’s eyes flashed, looking back at Piper.

 

“ _I KNOW_.”

 

The tip of the wand lit up. The energy it gathered was black and purple, and Piper had already seen that mixture before. A year ago, just a few days before she left for university. When Tony waved around the new wand around the campfire, and demonstrated its power by accidentally creating a blackhole.

 

The energy shot out. It hit the catobeplas exactly, and the roar shook the entire woods. It made Lou Ellen cry out before her knees buckled and she fell over, the hypnotic trance broken, and Piper held her hands to her ears.

 

The blackhole energy crackled and twisted the catobeplas around, before it disappeared in a _blip_ , leaving nothing but the accessory. The blackhole had also sucked in the green death smoke with it.

 

The three demigods looked stunned. Tony was the first one to snap out of it, and rush quickly to grab the accessory.

 

“ _The Aphrodite-Hecate team have taken an accessory!_ ”

 

“I…meant to do that,” Tony said sheepishly.

 

Piper didn’t say anything. She just let out a sigh of relief, patting the boy’s shoulder.

 

She could already see the sun setting above the trees, but with their accessory in hand and Lou Ellen better now after a bite of ambrosia Tony had in his pocket, Piper was feeling optimistic. The whole point of the marathon was not to finish _first_ , but to survive, save the baby, and find the right accessory. And now they’d done all three.

 

Honestly, if you asked her, she was feeling pretty pumped. As random and intense as a flour baby death marathon seemed, it was bringing back all the good memories of Camp Halfblood that she’d almost forgotten. The teamwork. The near-death experiences…

 

Not knowing what she was doing, Piper had taken out Katoptris, throwing it in the air and spinning it in her content state. When she caught the dagger by the hilt and looked into the blade --

 

She saw the same man from her vision a week ago, but his eyes were ablaze with panic and desperation. Around him was fire, and he was looking straight at her, yelling:

 

_“SAVE HER. SAVE HER.”_

Piper dropped her blade and the vision stopped. Tony picked it up for her and offered to hold the flour baby again if Piper was getting tired, but she insisted she was fine.

 

Something to remember for later.

 

Save her, save her…save who? Alex?

Entering the Southern Woods, she was just about to wonder what was happening to Alex May and the other teams when the ground started rumbling. All three demigods stopped.

 

Birds squawked and escaped from the trees. Wood nymphs and satyrs started running past them, running _from_ something to the west.

 

And then suddenly there was Leo and Nyssa, Nyssa holding Marie Cook, daughter of Nemesis over her shoulder. Leo and Nyssa were running through the woods, arguing in rapidfire Spanish, while Marie was yelling at whatever they were running at.

 

Only when they got closer did Piper notice they were all covered in gold glitter.

 

“ _\-- aw, pobrecito_ \-- I’m _sorry_ you were too busy _daydreaming_ about your girlfriend to realise you stepped into that trap, you _IDIOT--_ ” Nyssa shouted.

 

“Oh, please, we _BOTH_ should have known!” Leo was yelling, before Piper screamed for him to stop before he collided into her.

 

The rumbling of the ground got louder. Piper’s teeth was chattering in her mouth. With Leo suddenly grabbing her by the shoulders, the flour baby slipped out of her hands.

 

Leo started to drag her away from the rubble. Lou Ellen, Tony, and Nyssa were already running.

 

“What -- what _is_ it, Leo?!” Piper shouted. The gold glitter from his hands stuck to her shoulders.

 

“ _MYRMEKES_ \--”

 

Piper and Leo ran. But when she looked to him and saw the flour baby peeking out of his bag, her eyes widened. She skidded to a stop and looked back.

 

The white bag with its make-up and one remaining fake eyelash looked sad in the middle of the forest.

 

And the stampede of Myrmekes, heading for the glittering gold children of Hephaestus, were already on their way.

 

Leo screamed. “You’re on your own, _jefe_!”

 

How important was the baby? Baby or life? Life or baby? Baby or --? They had gone _so far_. Lacy had survived a minefield, Mitchell had flirted with nymphs and fought a giant squid --

 

Screw it.

 

Piper sprinted towards the baby. She and the myrmekes seemed to be the same distance, the closer she got, the closer they were. She took out her sword, ready to slice a path for her escape.

 

She reached the flour baby first, skidding to a halt all the way to the ground. She scrambled to get up, taking off running again, and she hugged the flour baby to herself as she tried to outrun the Myrmekes.

 

The chattering of their mandibles was enough to creep Piper out forever and never touch another bug, but she pushed herself forward. She panted, she took short breaths, she could see the rest of her team and Leo in the distance, just fifty feet ahead of her, and then the _sunshine_ on the archery range -- she was coming to the end of the woods!

 

And then, a tree root happened.

 

Everything moved in slow motion; Piper saw herself flying through the air, felt the pain of a twisted ankle, grabbed the flour baby before it could slip out of her reach, saw the Myrmekes right behind her, and just when she thought she would hit the ground, kill the baby, and become roadkill -- everything stopped.

 

Something was holding her up by the belt of her sword.

 

She was lifted up as the stampede rushed by. Piper’s heart stopped and she gasped as the Myrmekes rushed by under her, not even thinking to look up. They were probably still going for a golden Leo and Nyssa and Marie. She hoped by now they were in the safety of the Combat Arena and the Myrmekes were being directed somewhere else. Hopefully not back to _her_.

 

When it seemed like the coast was clear, Piper hugged the baby to her chest again, and then looked up to see who was holding her.

 

Alex May, on a tree branch, holding her by her jeans.

 

Piper held her breath. And not for any catobeplas stink reason.

 

“You can -- put me down now --" she stammered.

 

The woods calm again, the sunlight dappled through the trees. It wasn’t the best place, but it wasn’t the worst either. A smirk grew on Alex’s lips. “What?” she asked.

 

“Put me down,” Piper frowned.

 

“You sure?”

 

“Positive.”

 

“If you say so.”

 

Alex dropped her.

 

Immediately, Piper landed on her sprained ankle and she fell over.

 

“Oh, my God, I’m so sorry!” Alex leapt off her tree branch.

 

The flour baby still a priority, Piper had made sure to fall on her back, but it didn’t make it any less painful. She groaned, the throbbing of her ankle worse now. Without a second’s notice, Alex May, apologising the whole way, picked up Piper and carried her out of the woods, both of their flour babies in Piper’s arms.

 

It was a sight for the rest of the teams to behold.

 

As soon as they stepped onto the Combat Arena, everyone gasped and cheered. When Piper placed the flour babies on the table, they cheered even louder.

 

Chiron emerged from the crowd, laughing, his hand on his stomach.

 

“Of course a trek in the woods wouldn’t be complete without attracting the Myrmekes. I suppose the destruction of the Archery Range gives us a reason to construct a new field, but quick thinking on Taki’s part, thank you, Taki! But, I must say, I’m surprised the children of Hephaestus did not think of a _gold glitter bomb_ first. Instead, our Fiona did!” Chiron held his arm out to the team of Unclaimed Demigods. Fiona beamed. Mags and her whole team cheered, engulfing Fiona in a group hug.

 

So _that_ was what she had in her watch. Any time Piper looked at her, she’d been fiddling with that thing.

 

“And since the Iris-Nike and Dionysus-Apollo teams chose the _wrong_ accessories, in fact they chose _each_ other’s, and the Hermes team killed their flour baby -- this means the team of Unclaimed Demigods arrived first, with all their team-members safe and their baby intact! The team of Unclaimed Demigods have this victory! _Well done_! Well done, campers!”

 

Despite their losses, all the teams erupted into cheering and whooping for the success of their five newest demigods, plus Mags and Riley.

 

Piper laughed, clapping and joining the cheering while Alex just whooped. She was still carrying Piper in her arms. With Alex distracted by the cheering, Piper took a second to just look at her. She smiled, her heart growing warm.

 

And just as Riley started an impromptu sing-along to ‘We Are The Champions’, Fiona started rising from the ground.

 

“Wait, wait, guys -- guys, what’s going on?!” Fiona squeaked, holding her sword out.

 

Holly and Laurel Victor, pushing their way to the front, gasped. Chiron just grinned, proud.

 

In a burst of white light, Fiona’s armour and camp clothes were transformed into a white chiton, cut just above her knees, and at her feet were bronze, athletic sandals. At her head was a fresh laurel wreath. A symbol appeared above her head as she was gently lowered to the ground.

 

All the campers whispered to each other and then Chiron beckoned for them all to bow. Fiona  was still bathed in the white light as she looked at everyone, puzzled.

 

“It is my pleasure and privilege to announce, my dear campers,” Chiron said, solemn but smiling, “that one of our victors, Fiona Kostakis, has now been claimed -- and is our newest daughter of Nike.”

 

Everyone bowed. Alex and Piper just bowed their heads. The light faded away, and then Fiona was left in her Ancient Greek chiton, the laurel wreath blooming on her head, her face flushed with excitement.

 

In a split second, the campers erupted into cheering again. Piper laughed. Everyone around them was screaming and cheering and singing ‘We Are The Champions’. The Ares-Hypnos team were grumbling that nobody noticed them, but they were soon caught up in the festivities as everyone moved towards the Dining Pavilion, everyone still covered in sand, or stink-bombs, or glitter, or smelling like seawater.

 

The satyrs rushed around trying to get everyone to at least cover their wounds if no one was going to the Big House to get properly healed yet. The Apollo kids helped. The Iris-Nike team were trying to work out if they could claim Fiona as part of their team since she was a child of Nike -- Holly and Laurel were the first to pick up their newest sister and hold her up in the air, proudly claiming her as theirs.

 

From there, the entire Unclaimed Demigods team crowd-surfed all the way to the Dining Pavilion.

 

And Alex and Piper?

 

Alex did her best to not have Piper’s ankle crash into the sea of demigods around them. She lifted her up, spun her around, and made Piper laugh as she carried her with ease, keeping up with the crowd. With everyone pushing in around them, Piper was close enough to Alex’s face and, in a rush of joy, she kissed her cheek.

 

 

The celebration that night was the wildest it had been in a long time. Dinner seemed to last for hours. And the rule about tables was thrown to the side as the new campers sat anywhere they liked. Even Chiron mingled with everyone. Gone were the formalities and here was nothing but newfound jubilation and an appreciation for each other.

 

Everyone celebrated the winning team, and the newest claimed demigod. Everyone laughed at how the Iris-Nike team and the Dionysus-Apollo team had mistaken each other’s accessories for their own. The Iris-Nike team had picked up what they thought was a ‘victory cup’ that reflected light, when really it was a wine cup with sun symbols. And the Dionysus-Apollo team had picked up a laurel wreath with ‘grape vines’ on it.

 

All through the night, campers teased the teams by thrusting drinking cups into their faces:

 

“Is _THIS_ your accessory!”

 

“Or _THIS_?”

 

“Or _THIS_!”

 

When Cecil Markowitz splashed his cordial onto Priya Gupta’s face, that was the last straw. Priya cursed him to have terrible reception for all his Iris Messages.

 

Everyone had a new respect for the two mortals, Mags and Riley. Piper, her ankle almost fully healed, listened to the parts of the marathon she didn’t catch. How Riley had saved a water nymph from being strangled by the squid. How Mags had fought off an Aeternae all by herself.

 

And there were stories of Alex too.

 

The glow was something they all saw. Mags and Riley had never noticed it, but maybe it was a demigod thing. She glowed when she ran across the fields. Alex had leapt into the air, impossibly high, and deflected a flying bomb with her shield. She breezed through the sand-dunes and avoided quicksand traps, but she was strong enough to pull out Austin Lake with just one arm.

 

Austin did a three-minute serenade on his saxophone.

 

And of course, she single-handedly defeated the kraken automaton. Harley still looked pouty about that, but Alex went over and hugged him as an apology. He looked so embarrassed the entire Hephaestus cabin couldn’t stop teasing him about it the whole night.

 

In the woods, it seemed as if every team met Alex at one point, and she helped them defeat the monsters they met. Except for the Hephaestus-Nike team and the Myrmekes.

 

“When they just started running, I thought it would be a good idea to just run too,” Alex explained, laughing. “But, that was the mission Chiron gave me --” She smiled, glancing at the centaur. “I didn’t have an accessory, and I didn’t have a team. But I had the flour baby and my mission was to help you guys. Make sure everyone survived. Do what I could.”

 

Everyone raised a toast to Alex, and Piper had never seen her so happy.

 

She still hadn’t reacted to Piper’s kiss on her cheek. Piper didn’t know why she _wanted_ her to react. Friends did that all the time. Lacy certainly kissed most everyone on the cheek; she liked to act like an old Hollywood superstar, kissing the air on either side of people’s face. No, she didn’t care. The kiss meant nothing.

 

But she stuck close to Alex all night, sitting next to her at dinner, sharing their meals, and then telling each other everything about the marathon.

 

She tried not to think about the vision from her dagger. Why couldn’t the gods leave her alone for once?

 

They promised to talk more at the campfire, but first, Piper needed to get salve from the Big House. In the crowd heading towards the Amphitheatre, someone had kicked against her still-healing ankle.

 

Piper limped towards the Big House. In and out in five minutes, she stopped at the porch to apply the healing cream to her ankle and took a second to let it sink in. She breathed in the night air. In the sky, the Stormchaser constellation twinkled at her. Piper smiled.

 

Then she saw Riley coming out from behind the Big House, holding his phone.

 

“Hey, Riley --” Piper called out.

 

Riley spun around, surprised to see Piper there, but his expression immediately changed to his usual grin. He tapped on his phone without looking and Piper started to hear music playing from it.

 

“Whatcha doing here?” he asked, gesturing at her ankle.

 

“Healing up. My ankle started to hurt again and I wanted to get the salve before sitting down at the campfire.” Piper arched an eyebrow. She told herself to keep her tone light and not obviously suspicious. “And you?”

 

“Just took a walk,” Riley shrugged, the easy smile on his lips. “I was getting a little claustrophobic in there.”

 

“And your phone?”

 

Both of them looked at it.

 

“I was just listening to music. It’s so quiet here sometimes, y’know? I kinda miss the hustle and bustle of the city. But, hey -- you wanna head over to the campfire together?”

 

Riley pocketed his phone, the music still playing. She didn’t recognise the song

 

“It’s _Sunflower_ ,” he explained, showing her the screen. “From the movie, Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse?”

 

“Yeah, I’ve heard of it. Nice album cover,” she said, using that as an excuse to take a longer look. When she saw what she needed, she gave him back his phone and smiled. Piper agreed to let him hold her up, while they walked to the campfire together.

 

Riley chatted the whole way, telling her _his_ part of the marathon now. Then he started talking about the Halfbloodtunes idea he’d been working on with the Apollo and Hephaestus cabin. And more, and more, and something about music again, but Piper could only think of one thing:

 

If Riley had said he’d taken out the sim card from his phone, then it shouldn’t be showing the name of his carrier and two bars of reception…right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> from the shortest chapter to the longest one !! 
> 
> god this was a doozy, but I was excited to write it and I hope it was exciting enough to read! LOTS of action and so many people to keep track of, I hope it wasn’t too confusing to read. i just kept thinking of the announcer from legend of korra for this chapter lmfao
> 
> And I know that the demigods usually have a lot of rivalry going on, but I really like the idea of them sort of growing together and just working together more over the years. That’s how the demigods are better than the gods, I think. They work together and appreciate each other more.  
>  
> 
> thank you for reading everyone !! lots more things in store, stay tuned!


	11. The Real Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Piper has a new choice to make.

Piper dreamed that she was in a spa with her mother.

 

As soon as she’d fallen asleep, energised from the day and more than buzzing at her conversations with Alex by the campfire, her mother honed in on her like she was a Black Friday sale. One second she was in the Aphrodite cabin, listening to Lacy’s snores, and the next she was in an Olympian spa.

 

She’d never been to Olympus, but judging from what Annabeth and Percy had told her, she never wanted to go there.

 

Pink, cotton-candy clouds floated in the sky outside a pavilion circled by white classic columns. The whole spa seemed to be in the sky. Baby statues with wings played music above them. Herbal scents wafted up to her nose. Piper sneezed. Flower petals flew about with the wind.

 

Piper had woken up in a spa bed and right next to her, on her own spa bed, was Aphrodite

 

The goddess seemed to have a million things going on at once. Her feet were being soaked, her nails being done, her face looked stiff from a face-mask, and her hair was wrapped in foils. 

 

“Piper, _honey_ ,” said Aphrodite, a smile in her voice but nowhere on her face. It was like talking to the most beautiful mannequin in the world. Or a robot.

 

Piper didn’t know whether to laugh or run. She turned away from her mother.

 

“Mom. Hi,” she replied awkwardly, sitting up. A nymph came up and offered her some snacks in a bowl and Piper shook her head.

 

“How do I look?”

 

“You look fine.”

 

“I look funny, don’t I,” Aphrodite sighed.

 

Piper resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “You don’t look funny --”

 

“But I feel terrible, sweetie, just terrible.”

 

 _Great segue, mom_.

 

Piper gave a stiff smile. “Oh, _no_ , poor you.”

 

The goddess looked affronted, like a child caught being melodramatic. Piper almost felt _bad_ for her, but everything that had happened, she thought she earned being a little bitchy to her mom.

 

“I know our last… _real_ conversation didn’t really go down well…” Aphrodite started. “And you can probably think of a dozen things to blame me for.”

 

“Try a _hundred_.”

 

“A _dozen_ …but I still think it’s worth it to salvage our relationship, Piper.”

 

“Our relationship?” It felt ridiculous just saying it. “Mom, look, I really appreciate all the help you gave us during the war with Gaia. The supplies, helping with the Giants, _everything_ but -- I can’t --” Piper sighed. “I can’t just forget everything that quickly. I can’t forget --”

 

“Him.” Aphrodite wiped her hand across her face and the stiffness of the face mask was gone in an instant. “You can’t forget him,” she said sadly.

 

“Jason,” Piper stressed. Having Jason being reduced to just a ‘him’ felt wrong.

 

“ _Jason_ , of course, I just didn’t think --”

 

“That wasn’t what I was going to say anyway. I’m not heartbroken anymore. I’ve accepted it, I’ve made peace with it. I know who I am, I know what we _were_ and no matter what, Jason meant a lot to me. But that’s not the problem. It’s everything else. Everything that led up to it. The Wilderness School, the war, you being in my _ear_ all the time telling me how _perfect_ we were together and never to let him go. It’s everyone _meddling_.”

 

How many times had they already talked about this? The last time (that last ‘real’ conversation) had been a little over a year ago, but Piper had been stressed and anxious and couldn’t express herself properly. That had been one of their _longest_ conversations if only for the fact that she didn’t know what she wanted to say. But now she knew. And she wanted this dream over.

 

She grit her teeth, looking down at her shoes. At least Aphrodite let her keep her current clothes on this time, and not dress her in a pink toga.

 

“I’m _sorry_ , mom, but I’m really tired and…is there something you actually want to tell me?”

 

When Aphrodite didn’t respond, Piper was forced to look up, to make sure the goddess was actually still _there_. It felt exactly like those times her dad would call her from another room and she’d yell ‘ _what?_ ’ except he’d never answer, so she had to go find him and see what he wanted.

 

 _Parents_.

 

“I know what the problem is, sweetie. The _real_ problem,” Aphrodite said, gentle but grave. “And…you’ll be glad to know, the solution should present itself soon. I’m very proud of you, you know, you were doing so well on your own, making your own life, like you said you would.” She offered a small smile, but it faltered. “But…the company that you keep. It’s brought you back. It’s brought a lot of things back.”

 

“And?”

 

Aphrodite took a sharp breath. “Us gods have many regrets. Apollo and I have started to speak about them at length. Sort of like group therapy. We’re trying to get everyone else to come over too, but you know Athena’s too proud and Ares would rather die than accept he has feelings -- but _anyway_. We never used to talk. But our children have changed us. For the better, I hope,” she added, her smile returning. “And it’s for this reason that I must warn you, if you want the life you planned for, you must step off your current path and find another one.”

 

“ _What_? What are you talking about?”

 

“If you continue on this road…” Aphrodite didn’t look away from Piper even once, “you will suffer. You will suffer all over again. But if you leave, you will live a long and content life.”

 

Behind Aphrodite, with her words, the sky began to change.

 

The colour of the cotton-candy clouds began to change. From pink, to a blazing orange, and then the red of fire. The same black shadow that she saw from Katoptris began to leak into the clouds, like ink on paper. Piper stood up from her seat, her hand going on her hip to her dagger, but it wasn’t there. _Still just a dream._

The flower petals that floated among them turned to hot embers.

 

“ _Oh_ ,” Aphrodite sighed, looking around her. “It’s going to happen again.”

 

“You’re talking about Alex. The line of Achilles,” Piper said quickly. “But Alex isn’t like her ancestors, what happened in the Civil War will never happen again. _Mom_ \--”

 

Aphrodite’s face became sorrowful, as if she _pitied_ Piper. She didn’t answer, instead, she ran her fingers through her hair, revealing a deep shade of red, the foils falling to the ground.

 

“If something wrong happens, it’s because of a stupid prophecy and the gods intervening where they shouldn’t and -- and things we can’t account for --” Piper stammered. She was losing her mother, _fast_.

 

“Mom, are you listening? This isn’t one of those stories. And if you really want to help, then you’d prevent all these outside factors from happening -- stop _all this_ from happening before it gets to us, why don’t you ever do that? Why don’t any of you ever _do_ that?” Piper had started shouting. “But it’s not going to start with us. Not me, not Alex. _Especially_ not Alex--”

 

She had never seen her mother look so sad. Aphrodite stood up from her bed and bent at Piper’s knees, taking her daughter’s hands in hers. She kissed them.

 

“Remember when I told you about us? About what we can do? My children,” Aphrodite sighed, closing her eyes. “Just don’t let her be happy. You have to stop, _before it’s too late_ …”

 

The fire from the clouds spread, and she saw her mother engulfed in the flames.

 

** 

 

The next time she opened her eyes, she was back in the Aphrodite Cabin and Mitchell was exercising his ‘head counsellor’ powers to make sure they all got to the Dining Pavilion in time for breakfast.

 

“Rise and shine, sleeping beauties!” Mitchell banged his hairbrush against a gong.

 

“Where did you get the _gong_?” Lacy grumbled, burying herself under her covers.

 

“I’ve had it forever, what are you talking about?”

 

“ _Mitchell_ ,” Piper groaned. “We had a big day yesterday, do you seriously think everyone’s going to be at breakfast on time?”

 

“I dunno, maybe I’m just a little delirious from missing one night of a proper skincare routine, messing up the pH balance of my face…” Mitchell gave Piper a pointed look, before looking out the window, “but, is it me, or does the Dining Pavilion look pretty full, and is that Chiron making a speech over there…?”

 

Lacy and Piper jumped out of their beds and got dressed.

 

The three siblings bickered the whole time, with Mitchell looking pretty happy with himself at irritating his sisters so much. But they were all glad to know they weren’t the only latecomers. Trevor, of the Ares cabin, and Dale, of the Hypnos cabin, were holding up Clovis in between them, who seemed to still be completely asleep. His feet dragged against the floor. Ellis came up behind them and picked up Clovis completely, rolling his eyes.

 

When they got to the Dining Pavilion, Chiron was in the middle of saying something. But as soon as he saw the new arrivals, he gestured at them and everyone applauded and cheered.

 

The centaur just chuckled. He beckoned for them to take their seats at their tables. “-- now, what was I saying? Ah, yes -- it was a pure joy yesterday, a _pure joy_ , to see everyone participating with such exuberance at Harley’s Flour Baby Death Marathon…”

 

Everyone cheered again. All the tables shook with the demigods banging their utensils and fists on them.

 

“Settle down, now, settle down!”

 

The Aphrodite kids continued to weave their way through the Dining Pavilion to reach their table. Passing by the Hermes table, Piper was surprised to see Alex leaning her head on Riley’s shoulder, bleary-eyed as if she’d just been dragged out of bed herself. She smiled at Chiron’s jokes, but otherwise, Alex still had that aura of exhaustion around her.

 

She’d been doing so well last night, staying up and partying past curfew with the rest of the older campers. Alex had been the one they all chose to try and placate the harpies, who were trying to throw lava at the partying demigods.

 

But now…

 

“Whoa, there, Beauty Queen --” Leo poked her hip as Piper tried to sit down, “this isn’t your table.”

 

The table looked up to notice Piper and Harley arched his eyebrow so high she thought it would disappear into his hairline.

 

Her face heating up, Piper wobbled as she stopped herself from sitting down at the Hephaestus cabin and then headed for the correct table. Mitchell had slapped his hand over his eyes. She kept her head low as she sat down.

 

“…there is, however, one thing I would like you to take from this experience. Something you should always carry with you in your heart,” the centaur continued. “Something I would have liked to say yesterday except someone said the word ‘ _party_ ’ and, admittedly, I was also carried away with the festivities,” Chiron chuckled, shaking his head. “My dear campers: you must always remember the value of teamwork. Never leave someone behind. Never let someone struggle on their own. If you always have each other, you will never be defeated. To Camp Halfblood!” Chiron raised his goblet.

 

“To Camp Halfblood!”

 

Piper thought she was going crazy. She’d raised her (empty) cup along with everyone else, and she’d said the toast just as passionately as everyone else, but there was still something off about the whole thing.

 

The same phrases echoing. The same feeling she’d come to recognise when the Fates were playing around with their strings again. The same ideas coming around. Like a nasty pimple that keeps coming back in the same spot. And no amount of skincare was going to take care of it.

 

She piled on a heavy breakfast on her plate and decided, once and for all: she was going to tell Chiron everything. But first, she had to check on Alex May.

 

Taking her plate with her, she sat over at the end of the Hermes table. There was _just_ enough space with all the Hermes kids, plus Riley, Mags, Alex, and Taki. Taki and Mags were sitting opposite Riley and Alex, consumed in a conversation with Cecil about how Mags had fought the Aeternae.

 

“You should totally write a book, could you write a book?” Cecil was asking. “Like, about how to do things _simply_? All those super subtle tactics and stuff, you’re like freaking James Bond!”

 

Alex had her breakfast on her plate too, but after what looked like half a plate done, she was just pushing around the bacon with her fork. Her shoulders slumped and her head hung forward. Riley was whispering something to her when Piper made herself known.

 

“Piper!” Riley smiled. “Morning, dude, whatcha eating?”

 

“Pancakes.” Piper tapped the fluffy circle with her fork. “And you guys?”

 

Riley explained that Alex had eaten scones, egg, sausages and bacon (Piper tried not to make a face), and that he was just eating cereal.

 

Alex smiled at Piper. “Sorry I’m a carnivore.”

 

“All good. Are you feeling okay?”

 

The smile faded. Something like annoyance flashed across Alex’s eyes, but it didn’t seem to be directed at Piper. “Yes. _No_. Just the usual.” Alex sighed. “I thought I’d be over it by now, I was feeling so good last night -- like, I didn’t feel tired at _all_ , and you guys know how tired I usually get immediately after I fight. But…yesterday wasn’t really about fighting anyway.”

 

“Right,” Riley nodded. “So we started to think about it. And we were thinking that maybe she only got tired after she fought. Like when there was actually _dangerous_ danger.”

 

“Dangerous danger,” Alex echoed, snorting.

 

Riley elbowed her and Alex laughed.

 

“But _still_ ,” he said. “That’s what we were getting at.”

 

Mags leaned forward from her side of the table. “ _And_ …”

 

She, Riley and Taki looked at Alex. Alex sighed at them, then turned to Piper. “ _And_ …I’ve had some dreams. I’m _having_ dreams.”

 

“ _What_?” Piper asked, surprised.

 

“I told her only demigods had dreams. Usually,” Taki added. “Unless you’re a very special mortal.”

 

“Or a legacy,” Piper suggested. Taki nodded. “So who do you dream about? Or… _who’s_ in your dreams?”

 

A scone appeared on Alex’s plate. Smearing cream and jam on it, she explained. “It’s usually just one guy. I don’t know who he is. He doesn’t appear _all_ the time. It’s usually just when he has something to tell me. Like, ages ago, I was taking a nap when he told me that you’d be coming,” she looked to Piper. “That night you came to our window.”

 

“So he warns you about what’s coming?” Piper asked.

 

“ _Yeah_ , that and…I dunno, sometimes we just talk. He’s really wise and kind,” Alex said, as if that solved the mystery. She stuffed the scone in her mouth to prevent herself from talking.

 

“We should probably figure out who this guy is,” said Taki, saying what was on everyone’s mind at this point. “Alex described him as a tall and buff, sort of tanned, and with dark curly hair tied back in a ponytail. What he wears is usually modern, though. And simple. Like farmer’s clothes.”

 

Piper narrowed her eyes. “Dark hair and buff? Alex, is he ever surrounded by fire? Or looking frantic?”

 

Alex frowned. “No…why?”

 

Piper told them about her visions -- not everything, just the man. She needed to check with Chiron first what the other ones meant. Everyone other than Taki were surprised that Piper’s dagger even did that.

 

“I thought you were just looking at your reflection this whole time,” Mags admitted sheepishly.

 

“So…he was by that river,” Alex said slowly. “And then he was there again but with fire?”

 

“No, I -- couldn’t actually tell if he was by the river. It just looked like a cage of fire.”

 

“Did he say anything?”

 

“Yeah, he said to ‘ _save her, save her_ ’.”

 

All eyes turned to Alex.

 

Alex pulled a face. “What? It could be _someone else_.”

 

“Oh, yeah, someone else who recently had a huge, life-changing revelation that Piper knows,” Mags pointed out. Alex frowned.

 

“We need to find out who this man is,” Taki said. “You said something about farming clothes. So we look for…godly farmers?”

 

“We can ask Billie and Meg,” Mags offered. “They probably know something.”

 

“It may not even be the same guy…” Riley mused.

 

Piper looked at Alex again. “But then you said it’s _usually_ just one guy. Who’s the other one?”

 

“The other one is a woman.” Alex shifted in her seat, her eyes focusing on the table like she was trying to remember the woman’s face, or trying to forget it. “I see her more often. She…I dunno what she does, but she kind of messes with my mind. And, actually, before coming here I didn’t even realise it was a _person_. I just remember always waking up…sad. And tired. But when I slept here for the first time, especially after learning about Achilles…I actually saw her face. And I remembered. She’s always been there.”

 

Alex went silent for a second, but she seemed to be thinking of what to say next. Everyone waited.

 

“There’s also someone else,” she added. But I think I should talk to Chiron about this. This one’s pretty big.”

 

Mags looked disappointed, Taki was nodding in understand, but Piper couldn’t read Riley’s face. It wasn’t common to see him frown, and this was one was pretty deep-set. Still, he was the first one to speak up.

 

“Good idea. You could probably talk to him after breakfast,” he said.

 

“And I’m going too, actually,” Piper said. “I was already thinking of going to Chiron, for something different. But if you wanted to walk over together…”

 

Alex nodded. “ _Yes_ , let’s do that. But you can go first, I still need to think of what to say.”

 

The bleariness was disappearing from Alex’s eyes. She raised her hand for a fistbump with Piper and Piper complied. “Having someone to wait with is better than waiting alone.”

 

**

 

They didn’t have to wait very long. After breakfast, the campers dispersed to start their daily schedule. Some walked a little slower than others. A lot of people were still nursing injuries from the marathon, or were just plain sore all over. Harley pushing his siblings to join him for trireme practice had all the Hephaestus kids, even Leo, groaning. Piper passed by him quickly on the way to the Big House with Alex May.

 

“Any word from Calypso?” she’d asked.

 

“She said she’s on her way back now.” Leo waved a small compass looking object in his hand. Piper guessed it was a tracker or communication device. “So we’ll have some answers then. Hey -- morning, Alex!” Leo smiled.

 

Alex, lost in her train of thought, was a second late in responding, but grinned and waved anyway, passing an inside joke with Leo that made both of them laugh.

 

Before they branched off from the rest of the group, Piper looked around to try and find Riley. Make sure that he really _did_ take out the sim card and she was just imagining the reception on his phone from last night. But she couldn’t find him in the crowd.

 

The pair reached the Big House just a little after Chiron and when Piper asked for an audience, he let her in immediately. Alex agreed to wait outside -- and if the conversation went on for a while, then she said to just find her on the grounds.

 

Chiron folded his lower half into a wheelchair, and sat behind his desk. The black arrow was in a jar on the shelf behind the desk, mixed in with other arrows so it looked like a quaint collection rather than a mystical arrow with a dark history.

 

Most of Camp and life with gods were like that anyway. Ordinary things with extraordinary purposes. Valentina had been the one who found their mother’s girdle in the Camp Halfblood _Shop_ , of all places.

 

“Piper,” Chiron smiled, clasping his hands together on top of his desk. “I’m glad you came to visit, I _have_ been meaning to discuss something with you. But if there is another pressing matter you would like to talk about…”

 

“Uh…” Piper tapped her fingers along the armrests of the chair. “I’ve been having visions. And I had a dream with my mom last night.”

 

“Go on.” The centaur leaned his head forward, showing he was listening.

 

Piper told him everything. From the first vision at Riley and Mags’ apartment, to the one in the woods, and then Aphrodite’s conversation. Nothing was left untold. By the time she was done, Chiron had leaned so far back in his chair, he was practically looking at the ceiling.

 

He mumbled to himself a little.

 

Piper almost felt bad for dumping so much on him. She could never have Chiron's patience.

 

“You’re sure the rose window you saw is the one at the Waystation?”

 

“I think so.” Piper paused, than added: “But I’ve only been there once. I can’t think of any other rose window that would matter.”

 

Chiron rolled his chair out from behind the desk and Piper instantly stood up. “Follow me.”

 

He led her to a backroom in the Big House she’d never seen before. Come to think of it, she’d only ever seen Chiron’s office, the foyer, and the Infirmary. But this area was probably the residential side of the house. They passed by a quaint kitchen, big enough for a centaur to manoeuvre around -- and then they ended up in a sun-room.

 

The room was lined with carpentry and metalwork tools, nothing as elaborate as the Forge, but there were tools Piper had ever even seen before. And right in the middle of the room, the sun glinting off the coloured glass, was a half-done stained glass window.

 

“Is that…?”

 

“The god Apollo. And myself, meant to be there,” Chiron pointed at the portion of the window not yet done. So far, it showed Apollo crouching on the grass, pointing his bow to the sky. The stained glass glimmered in a way different from the windows Piper had seen in cathedrals and ancient buildings. Around Apollo were beds of roses.

 

Piper leaned in closer to the bottom corner of the window.

 

“That’s what it looked like. In the vision. That’s where the baseball bat struck.” Piper blinked. “I…I really thought it was the Waystation, but I guess I just…what’s this window for?”

 

“A personal project,” said Chiron, his smile sadder now that his creation had a dark future. “It was meant to be for the new building at the Archery Fields. Once it was destroyed yesterday, I set to work on it immediately. I had always wanted to take up a hobby but now…”

 

Chiron sighed, rubbing his chin.

 

“So it was the window,” he said. “And Rachel. She visited us a month ago. The repainting of the cave is almost complete, we were thinking of expanding her area somehow. But…she’s said nothing yet, pertaining to Alex or the line of Achilles.”

 

Piper leaned against a spare section of wall in the sunroom. She crossed her arms.

 

“Do you know when she’s coming back?”

 

“She won’t be able to visit us for another month, she’s in the middle of preparing for her final exams, I believe. She’ll be graduating soon.” Chiron stared at the stained glass window, thinking.

 

Piper counted inventory of her visions: the rose window was here, Alex was here and getting better, but Rachel was still up in the air.

 

“Did you recognise anything about the river?” Chiron asked.

 

“Nothing. It was just…darkness.”

 

“It may be the River Styx. Achilles is said to appear by the banks, to those who want to receive his curse. But I don’t know why Alex would be there.”

 

“Maybe there’s a chance she’d be led there somehow,” Piper suggested.

 

“I…don’t see why she would be. She already possesses all of Achilles’ gifts, save for the curse, it seems.”

 

The two paused to think. Outside, Piper could hear the chattering and booming of dozens of demigods going about their day. She knew every demigod had their own demons and quests to go on, but sometimes it really felt like the gods were picking on _her_ and the ‘seven’ in particular.

 

“That’s something I don’t get,” she began. “How can the line of Achilles… _not_ have the curse?”

 

“Well…that’s something we’re not actually sure about. From what I know of Flynn, he truly seemed invincible. Perhaps they do have a weak spot that we’re not aware of. Or maybe they’re not aware of it either. But we’re not about to go poking around their body to try and find their weakness,” Chiron pointed out.

 

Piper just managed a smile.

 

“It remains a mystery,” Chiron concluded. “But our new friend does not seem to be a danger. And I would hate to make her feel like she is. That is usually when we lose them.”

 

She nodded.

 

“As for the man…it may very well be Achilles trying to speak to you. I’m not sure if you had a long enough look, but…Achilles had gold flecks in his eyes. His eyes were otherwise brown, but they did shine in the sunlight sometimes. And they shined when he was showing off.” A nostalgic smile came over Chiron’s face.

 

“…I didn’t get to see his eyes very well. And Alex is gonna tell you that she saw a similar man in her dreams too. And a woman, apparently. And that woman depresses her every time she appears, I think,” Piper shrugged.

 

Chiron hummed in deep thought. Perching his elbows on the edge of the table, he folded his hands into a steeple and rested his chin on them. “Strange times,” he murmured. “I can only hope the gods will send us a sign. But if Aphrodite’s first message is anything to go by…what she said about your current path does trouble me.”

 

“Same here. I don’t even know what path I’m on. It looks like all she’s telling me is to stay away from Alex.”

 

“Do you want to?”

 

Piper didn’t answer. She knew what she wanted to say, but maybe there was some merit to what Aphrodite was saying. And she hated having to choose like this.

 

Always with the _stupid_ choices.

 

“I’m only asking because,” Chiron continued. “An opportunity has come up.”

 

“What do you mean?” Piper asked, curious.

 

“I informed Reyna of the issues with the storm spirits, and the spreading of Aeolus’ domain. We’re not sure yet how that might affect Camp Jupiter, but Reyna tells me they too have been reporting a high influx of sky-based monsters swooping on New Rome. I thought perhaps you might be of assistance there.”

 

Her eyebrows rose. Go to Camp Jupiter?

 

“They’re happy to accommodate you, at a lodging of your choice. Hazel has offered to let you stay at the Fifth Cohort’s quarters, but Annabeth and Percy are also there, they have a spare room in the new apartment they just bought,” Chiron smiled. “They’re coming by over the weekend, and we’ll update each other on the happenings at both camps. But if you so choose, you can go with them.”

 

Piper sank into her chair. _Choices, choices, choices_. But this was a tempting one. Assist Camp Jupiter with monsters and Aeolus? Not as some part of a godly quest? The storm-spirits were _her_ thing. _She_ chose to throw herself into fighting them and to get close with Aeolus to be on his good side. That was ALL her. And now it had become useful. They wanted her intelligence, her input.

 

Aphrodite’s words came back to her.

 

_If you leave, you will live a long and content life…_

 

This was her out. A way to continue to choose her own life, and not to have it chosen for her. The perfect kind of crossroads. One road led to a good project, to stay in the company of people she loved and trusted, to stay in a city that held a lot of promise. And the other road…

 

Mysteries. Gods being vague. The burden of another possible _end_ to the world. But there were also people she had started to love and trust here.

 

Where was she more needed?

 

“Shit,” she muttered.

 

Chiron arched an eyebrow.

 

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly.

 

The centaur shook his head with a smile. He gestured for Piper to come closer to the window.

 

“Do you know the story of how I became trainer of heroes?” he asked.

 

“…something about Apollo being bored?”

 

“More or less,” he laughed. “There are many ways to view how my story started. Perhaps it was pre-destined that Apollo would offer me to learn the ways of a warrior. Or maybe he really was just bored. And maybe it was planned from the start that I would create Camp Half-blood with his help. That I would teach the boy who became the man who levelled a city. And that I would later have to kill his descendant…”

 

Piper didn’t know where Chiron was going with this. It seemed like he was trying to be uplifting, but so many things had gone _wrong_ in the centaur’s life, how could he possibly keep his faith in fate?

 

“But, you see, in spite of all of that…I never abandoned my passions. It took me a while. And I haven’t made a window in decades. I haven’t been able to finish a carving in years. But I remember who I am. Who I _also_ am. Do you understand?”

 

Piper just looked at him, waiting for the punch-line.

 

Chiron steadied his gaze. “You are more than just a pawn of fate, Piper. No matter how much it feels like you are. You are not a pawn. You are an _agent_ of fate. You choose where to go. People will not choose for you. The gods certainly can’t.”

 

“They might smite me or turn me into a tree,” Piper snorted.

 

“Consequences,” Chiron shrugged. “But there always will be, when you choose your own path. You may think differently but…I learned long ago that I would rather make my own mistakes, by my own hand, than to sacrifice my honour by following life as someone else planned it.” He paused. “And you have your choice now, Piper. No one will judge you for it. People will understand and respect your choice. I certainly will,” he smiled.

 

If she left, she would have the balanced life she wanted. A year alone had taught her one thing: she never wanted to fully abandon life as a demigod. She wanted to abandon the _gods_ , for sure, but never her friends. If she could hang out with Annabeth and Percy more, and have Leo and Calypso over, while also having a job as an advisor for Reyna…she could even start university as New Rome! It was perfect.

 

Yet, leaving would mean no more Alex, Riley, or Mags. And as much as she loved her old friends, she was really starting to love her new ones too.

 

But how much did they really need her?

 

Stuck in her reverie, Alex almost missed the shouts of the campers from outside.

 

“ _CHIRON! CHIRON!_ ” Luca De La Motte was yelling, banging his fist on the sunroom door. “You have to come outside! _NOW_!”

 

In a flash, Chiron stood up and transformed into full centaur, crouching as he opened the door to the backyard. “What is it, Luca?”

 

“It’s -- it’s Alex May! She’s gone crazy, she’s fighting these strangers who came through the barrier in the forest, they’re _ALL_ crazy, they’re pulling apart the Southern Woods!”

 

Chiron looked back at Piper and both their eyes widened in fear. Chiron shouted orders to have Luca pull back the demigods that had gone to join the fight, then he galloped towards the woods, Piper running behind him as fast as she could.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m so sorry for how long this took !! life’s getting busy again, so the main problem is just finding time and energy to keep writing but the next few chapters are all planned out i just gotta sit down and write them D: I’m also sacrificing a bit of my editing too, but hopefully any mistakes or blunders aren’t too big or noticeable.  
>    
> any ideas on who the strangers in the forest are?? and has alex really gone crazy?? 
> 
> if the fates are nice, i’ll be able to write the next chapter sooner than last time. 
> 
> hope everyone’s been well !! thank you for keeping on reading and returning to ‘for only the buried’!! 
> 
> also, i know it’s a strange title but it DOES have a meaning, so can anyone guess that too?


	12. That's What You Get

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one with the two strangers.

**ALEX.**

 

She couldn’t believe she was the _only_ one who heard the crying and screams of pain coming from the forest. No way. Not in a million years. A camp full of restless hyper-attentive demigods? No way, no way, no way…

 

But for some reason, she was.

 

No one else in the Forge even batted an eye. She’d come here instead of waiting in the Big House, her own restlessness getting the better of her. Harley was in the middle of telling her about a new invention he was making. It was actually _Harley_ that had explained all demigods had ADHD and dyslexia. She didn’t have dyslexia, but she did have the common symptoms of ADHD. She’d just never known _that_ was what it was.

 

“How could you not know?” Harley asked, confused. “Didn’t you ever go to the doctor?”

 

Alex shook her head. “My family doesn’t really...it’s not that they believe in that stuff, but I guess they thought we didn’t really need to know?”

 

Harley thought about it for a while, then shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. But now you know. What do you think of this?” He held up plans for a new invention.

 

He was thinking of trying to make a Transformer. An _actual_ car that could transform into a killer automaton. And, not gonna lie, Alex was pretty into it.

 

“Is he gonna look more like Optimus Prime or Bumblebee?” she asked.

 

“ _Megatron_.”

 

“Awesome.”

 

Keeping up conversation with Harley helped, but try as she would to ignore the cries, after two more minutes of dealing with it, Alex excused herself to go check it out. The cries were getting more painful by the second.

 

She took with her a sword and shield from a shelf and then ran towards the forest, dodging questions and confused looks. The last thing she wanted was an audience, not when she wasn’t even sure what she was running towards. For all the campers knew, it was just Alex May going off to train in the forest.

 

Badass Alex May. _Awesome Alex May._ One-Man Army Alex May.

 

She was _so_ embarrassed.

 

It was nice, of course, having everyone be excited for her and cheering for her. It was one of the things she loved about competing in sports. The _cheers_ afterwards. As awkward as she could be when people singled her out and called her things like ‘best of the best’ and ‘one of a kind’...it really _was_ nice. Maybe that was the blood of her mother, who would cheer for herself after she won a thumb-war. Maybe that was the theatre kid in her. Maybe that was the blood of Achilles.

 

Alex May slowed her running. She’d been so deep into her thinking she didn’t know where she’d ended up.

 

Looking around, she recognised the cluster of trees as the place where she’d first found the Aphrodite team yesterday. There was the tree she climbed, and picked up Piper. The memory made her smile. She hoped Piper’s conversation with Chiron was going okay. Another reason why she left was that she could faintly hear Piper and Chiron’s conversation, and she didn’t want to invade her privacy.

 

Alex rubbed her ears. She honed in on the crying sounds, closing her eyes and listening through the forest.

 

The cries came from the north.

 

Alex ran again.

 

Yesterday had been _amazing_ . Scary and thrilling, and the before and after weren’t the absolute best (she was trying not to dwell too much on her depressive episodes, though), but still _amazing_ . Running through the field, tearing apart the metal of the kraken...Alex’s hands tingled at the memory of it. How _easy_ it was to rip apart. How running made her feel like flying. It was the same sensation she’d get when she sang a solo on the stage, her voice reaching the back of the room, the people in the audience gazing up at her in wonder.

 

She made sure her breathing was stable as she run, just as her mother taught her.

 

_Pump your arms, don’t just keep them hanging everywhere._

 

_Keep your back straight if you can. Keep your breathing stable._

 

When she found a good gap in the trees, Alex broke into a full sprint, and then bounded upwards. She kept a good grip on her sword and shield, keeping them close to her so they wouldn’t get caught in branches. Alex soared through the treetops, the leaves and twigs brushing against her face. And when she landed, she leapt up again, seeing how far she could go without running and with just a single jump.

 

_God, I wish I could fly._

 

And in the air, the crying became clearer. She finally recognised who was making them.

 

The _Myrmekes_.

 

Everyone yesterday had scattered and screamed at the sight of the huge ants but for some reason, Alex was excited. She’d felt a pull to the ants, somehow. An ‘ancient’ part of her awakened, like she recognised something in them. She’d heard the crying yesterday too, more angry and annoyed than today, though. Today, they were in complete pain. But before she could figure out why this was, and how she was somehow _understanding_ them, Leo and Nyssa were pulling her away and she’d raced ahead to stop being trampled by the stampede.

 

But Alex had a funny feeling that even if she hadn’t run, the ants wouldn’t have hurt her.

 

And now someone was hurting them.

 

One more run, one more jump, and she landed in front of the Myrmekes’ Lair. And right there on top of the anthill, were two figures fighting them off.

 

A teenage boy, and a young woman. The boy held a black sword, his face emotionless as he fought the Myrmekes. Under his armpit, he held something bronze with gold parts that glinted. That must have been what the Myrmekes were attracted to. In contrast to the pale complexion of the boy, the young woman next to him was dark-skinned, tall, broad-chested and muscly, a bronze broad sword in her hand. The two were bickering -- or, at least, _she_ was trying to bicker and he was trying to focus on something else. His sword slashed through the Myrmekes like they were nothing, but more and more were attacking them.

 

Alex stayed in the treeline, uncertain of whether to attack or not.

 

The boy lifted his hand, and a crack appeared in the ground, the Myrmekes falling through, and something was pulling them down. _Skeletons_?

 

Something else was happening too. The boy was releasing some sort of energy, some deadly force that slowed the Myrmekes and felt like pure agony. Even from her distance, she could feel something different in the air.

 

The crying of the Myrmekes reached a higher pitch. Dangerous or not, the Myrmekes were just protecting their territory -- and the golden thing and the fear wasn’t helping at all.

 

Then, for some reason, voices came into her head -- like none other she’d ever heard before. A language she couldn’t fully understand, but the faint message was clear: _they were calling out to her, to someone -- anyone -- for help_.

 

Alex ran forward, stopping at the foot of the anthill. The Myrmekes didn’t touch her, if anything they rallied around her.

 

“ _HEY_ \--” Alex shouted, surprised at how loud and steady her voice was. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” The Myrmekes began to gather around her, clacking their mandibles at the two strangers in a steady drum beat. The only ants remaining near the strangers were dead bodies.

 

Alex steeled herself.

 

The young woman spun around. Her braids were tied together in a ponytail and it smacked the boy in the face. He just frowned, then his eyes narrowed at Alex.

 

“It’s her,” he said, pointing a long, pale finger at her. The Myrmekes cowered at his pointed finger, but Alex felt the familiar warmth of the _glow_ surrounding her, her hand gripping and re-gripping her sword. Maybe it protected her from whatever energy the boy was emitting.

 

The boy opened his mouth to say something else but the woman beat him to it. She pointed her sword at Alex, her eyes furious. “ **_YOU_ **. You’re coming with us.”

 

“ _What_?” Alex asked, confused.

 

“Issa,” the boy said, irritated, “don’t do anything _stupid_.”

 

But Issa just screamed a war cry to rival Riley’s. She jumped off the anthill in an impressive leap, her sword lifted up and swinging down, ready to slice off Alex’s head.

 

**

 

Issa never got the chance.

 

Alex lifted her shield up to absorb the force of the blow. The two celestial bronze objects clashed, sending out a force so strong and a _BOOM_ reverberation so loud, the nearest Myrmekes tumbled to the side.

 

Alex herself was sent backwards by the force, but her shield-arm didn’t waver and her legs steadied themselves against the might of the older warrior. Her feet simply slid across the dirt.

 

She lowered the shield, her eyes flashing behind them.

 

Issa charged. Alex raised her sword again.

 

The blades made a scraping sound that set Alex on edge as they grappled with their swords, both trying to overpower the other. Issa pulled back, swinging again. Her sword swiped up, then left, right and everywhere -- she was the strongest person Alex had fought so far. Part of it was terrifying but also _exhilarating_.

 

The Myrmekes left the two warriors to fight while they went to attack the teenaged boy.

 

The stranger dealt an endless attack. Each blow and strike was blocked by Alex, and returned three-fold, the force of their attacks cracking tree trunks and making waves across the ground as they fought. She was feeling it again, that sense of unlimited power, some energy inside her being released with every swing of her sword. When Alex crouched to swipe at Issa’s feet, Issa avoided the kick, spinning around and maneuvering her sword to block Alex’s blows.

 

Then Alex lunged forward, aiming straight for Issa’s face. Issa turned at just the right time, switching swordhands to try and slash at Alex’s arm behind her. Alex moved her arm, but the sword still reached its target -- _barely_. It scratched the surface of her skin, but the skin only appeared red and the blade clearly hadn’t broken through.

 

Issa stared at it, the confusion in her eyes turning into anger.

 

“You’re a **_monster_ ** ,” she spat. “A **machine** bred for nothing but destruction --”

 

Alex’s eyebrows furrowed. Taking a deep breath, Alex went on the offense, her attacks so quick and strong, Issa could barely keep up. Sword clashed against sword and Alex saw the sweat dripping down the stranger’s forehead and her first thought was: _good_.

 

She was **_not_ ** a monster. She was going to show her, she was going to prove to her that she was good, that she was only a fighter because she was born that way, and not because it was her choice. She would tell her all this, and more, but only after she defeated her.

 

And still, there was hesitation in her mind. She watched as Issa pushed herself to keep fighting, to match Alex’s intensity and ruthlessness with a weapon. Where was the man’s voice? He’d been there to tell her to stop when she killed the telekhines. He’d been there to tell her she was strong enough, that she could save all of them, even after so many months of not fighting, when the giants attacked the airport. Where was he now?

 

Instead, she heard another voice. The voice of the woman by the sea:

 

_If you surrender, they will never let you go. They will believe you’re weak. They’ll walk all over you, and your friends. You will have failed protecting them._

 

Alex grit her teeth. She wasn’t going to surrender to this stranger just to prove her innocence. She wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.

 

Their fight moved further into the forest. Alex wasn’t sure which direction they were going. Issa had started to run to avoid her. Alex had already discarded her shield, left it behind at the Myrmekes’ Lair. Trees suffered under her sword -- at one point, she swung so hard, it cut through half a trunk and the whole tree fell over from Issa colliding against it.

 

Alex’s body was on automatic mode. She knew what was going to happen before her enemy even made a step or drew a breath. Issa was getting _tired_.

 

But even then, she was still holding her own.

 

The longer their fight lasted, crashing through the forest and disturbing all the spirits, the more attention they gathered. From the corner of her eye, Alex could see satyrs and nymphs hiding behind trees, wide-eyed and fearful. Campers training in the forest coming over to see what was wrong. But no one dared approach them, not when they were moving so quickly and still dealing blows. And even then, Alex made sure to steer the fight away from everyone else, pushing Issa away from the crowd so she wouldn’t hurt them too.

 

She was _sure_ now, that this was someone out to kill her, one of those people Chiron warned them about who was after the line of Achilles.

 

Alex fumed. _Over her dead body_.

 

And it would **never** come to that.

 

They grabbed each other’s sword hands and wrestled to put each other down. Issa smacked her forehead against Alex’s. Alex just winced, before head-butting Issa right back, and the two crashed outside the forest.

 

She could see the Dining Pavilion and the cabins from here. _It was too close, way too close_. From the Dining Pavilion, she saw Meg McCaffrey come forward (she’d memorised that girl’s face and name ever since she saw her threaten Riley with a small goblin looking plant thing). Roots from the ground burst up to try and grab at Issa, and Issa just slashed at them with her sword, her furious eyes turning towards Meg.

 

“ _NO_ \--” Alex shouted, charging forward and tackling Issa to the ground.

 

Issa tumbled backward and threw Alex off. All the demigods pulled back to avoid being collateral damage. Five people kept back Meg. She saw Ellis running forward with the Ares kids but others held them back too.

 

The sword-fighting continued.

 

Alex had to figure out a way to end this and quick.

 

Issa stabbed her sword forward, aiming for her throat, and Alex stepped to the side. In one clean motion, she grabbed Issa’s swordhand and took the woman’s entire weight, picking her up and hurling her towards the only direction that didn’t have demigods watching them.

 

Issa flew through the air two hundred feet, her body colliding into the cliffside of the lava wall. Her screams could be heard all the way from here, peeling herself away from the lava.

 

Alex’s breathing was steady and slow, her eyes watching the lava wall. All the demigods had stopped talking, watching with bated breath. She didn’t dare turn around. She heard Cecil Markowitz’s familiar voice, shouting something like ‘ _THAT’S WHAT YOU GET_ ’ -- and then the noise started all over again. But it didn’t all sound supportive and cheerful. Some were confused, some shouting about something else.

 

She vaguely heard Chiron calling her name, but all her attention was still on Issa.

 

Issa had crawled out of the Issa-shaped hole she’d been thrown into, her arms covered in third-degree burns, her shoulders and back too. She was breathing so hard, Alex thought she would breathe smoke from how mad she was.

 

“ _Stay down_ ,” Alex shouted, her voice carrying across the field.

 

“Finish what you started, **_murderer_ ** \--” Issa shouted.

 

“I’m not fighting you anymore,” Alex frowned. “It’s already done --”

 

“Like _HELL_ it is.” Issa picked up her sword from the lava, the metal scalding hot, and she threw it at Alex. “Prove to everyone what you are!”

 

The sword flew in the air in slow motion. She saw the blade coming towards her, and she slid to the side, catching it by the handle before it could reach the demigods.

 

She heard Lacy’s familiar scream of fear.

 

_That was it._

 

Holding the sword in her hand, Alex charged forward.

 

Her footsteps were light against the grass as she dashed towards her, flying once more, sword held to the side. This was ending _now_.

 

And then just as she reached the halfway point, the teenaged boy appeared from the shadow of the wall next to her shadow. He stepped in front, blocking Issa from Alex’s view.

 

He seemed to be covered in the same golden glitter that had attacked Leo and Nyssa at the marathon. But he’d wiped his face clear of the sparkly mess, showing a sullen and serious expression.

 

The boy held up his hand, like a stop sign, at Alex. She kept running forward, ready to strike both of them down. The shouts from the campers were louder now, everyone telling her to stop. But she couldn’t, _wouldn’t_ , not when they were dangerous --

 

“Are you insane?!” Issa screamed. “She’ll kill you!”

 

“No, she won’t,” he said, his voice clear in Alex’s ear. “You won’t because that’s not what Ettore Estrada taught you.”

 

Alex’s eyes widened.

 

She skidded to a halt in front of the boy and his hand. The wind rushed forward from her momentum, blowing his hair back and some of the glitter from his shoulders.

 

“My grandfather. How...?” Alex lowered her sword, suspicious.

 

“I spoke to him. Short conversation. He told me to give you this.”

 

From his pocket, he took out a chocolate cake wrapped in plastic.

 

Alex dropped her sword. “But this isn’t sold in --”

 

“In the US? Yeah. Manila’s pretty great, by the way.”

 

He gave her the cake. She held it in her hands, stunned. “He’s been dead for seven years. So, same question, _how_...?”

 

“Son of Hades. That’s sort of my thing.”

 

Alex just stared. The glow faded. The exhaustion didn’t hit her like it usually did, but she could feel it begin to wear her away. She heard what everyone was yelling now. She guessed it was the boy’s name, and they’d been telling her to stop, but now everyone breathed a little easier. Issa appeared next to him looking dumbfounded, standing a whole two feet taller than the boy and her wounds had already begun to heal.

Alex swayed a little and the boy picked up Issa’s sword from the ground.

 

“Use this to balance yourself.” His expression didn’t _soften_ , per se, but it lost some of its stoniness. "I don't usually say this, but I think I have all the answers to your questions. I bet there's a lot. So...we should get started as soon as possible."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was so excited for this chapter i just wanted to upload it already! now we have the shortest chapter in the story so far.
> 
> more mysteries! more action! more familiar faces 👀 the fates are being kind, hopefully the next chapter will come as quickly as this one!
> 
> as always, thank you for reading !!


	13. Apprehend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one with the double meaning.

**ALEX.**

 

“My name is Issa Ntuwah. I’m an Amazon sent by Queen Hylla to find and apprehend the descendant of _Achilleus_ …” Was the dramatic ancient name really necessary? “…and use whatever means necessary.”

 

“And I’m Nico di Angelo. I firmly believe in the multiple meanings of ‘apprehend’.”

 

The boy extended a friendly hand to Alex May, and she took it, shaking it slowly.

 

They were all standing in Chiron’s office again. The leopard-head on the wall, Seymour, looked exhausted at having so many visitors over the past couple of days. Alex couldn’t blame it. After shaking Nico’s hand, she retreated back to the wall again, right next to Seymour’s head. Seeing a jar of Cheetos on the shelf next to him, she took it out and started feeding Seymour. She caught Chiron’s eye once, and he just nodded at her with a smile, giving her permission to continue.

 

Everyone else went to interrogate Issa and Nico. And by everyone, there was Piper, Riley, Mags, Leo, and now Calypso too. Not exactly the warmest of welcome parties.  

 

Alex felt guilty having everyone else deal with the talking and the negotiations while she just stuck to the side, but she was also _so so_ grateful. Contrary to popular belief, she _hated_ confrontation. If everyone waited for _her_ to speak up, they’d be waiting a long time. When it came to verbal fights, she was always more likely to just back down than to stand up for herself.

 

And if it had been Alex talking to Issa for the past five minutes, she probably would have surrendered to the Amazon already and let herself be arrested.

 

“I’m with Nico on the other meaning of ‘apprehend’,” said Mags, frowning at the Amazon. “Your mission should be to understand someone first, rather than attack at first sight.”

 

“Excuse me?” Issa arched an eyebrow. “She attacked first.”

 

Nico sighed, exasperated. “ _No_ , she didn’t. You did.”

 

“So much for being all buddy-buddy, di Angelo,” Issa snarled.

 

“Enough,” Chiron lifted his hand with a sigh. “Nico, how did you become part of an Amazonian envoy?”

 

“I wasn’t. I was already on a mission to find Alex Estrada, sent by Reyna after Ella found something in the Sibylline Books.”

 

Everyone else seemed to just accept that piece of information but Alex, Riley and Mags all looked at each other in confusion.

 

“I’m sorry --” Riley raised his hand like he was in class, “the _what_ now?”

 

“Books that tell the future, basically,” Leo explained, shrugging.

 

“Oh. Awesome. Clears that up entirely.”

 

“Then how did you two come together?” Chiron gestured between Nico and Issa. Issa rolled her eyes.

 

“I can explain that.” Calypso stepped forward. “My sister, Coronis. We’re…distant but I thought I could reach out to her since I heard she joined the Amazons. Once Alex May’s ancestry was revealed, I told Leo I could reach out to the Amazons to avoid any misunderstandings. I spoke to Coronis and she and Hylla agreed to see Alex May first _before_ attacking,” she said, looking pointedly at Issa.

 

Issa’s frown deepened. “And that’s not what I did?”

 

“You disobeyed _direct orders_ , Issa.”

 

“I did what was needed to be done, and you saw what happened, we all did!” Issa retaliated. “That _girl_ you’re protecting is a danger to us all! She destroyed the camp!”

 

“And _she_ wasn’t alone!”

 

Alex flinched. She held a Cheeto so tight, it crumbled to dust between her fingers and Seymour lowered his head sadly.

 

“ _Enough!_ ” Chiron said again, louder. He stepped in front of the Amazon and the titaness.

 

“I will not tolerate any finger-pointing or accusations in this room,” Chiron frowned. “This is a room of diplomacy and deliberation. Now, I believe Calypso and Nico.” Issa opened her mouth to reply but Chiron stopped her. “And I know from personal experience that it is not the will of the Amazons to attack before knowing who their true enemy is. I will accept that you are here to investigate Alex May, but I will _not_ accept senseless attacks based on personal prejudice.”

 

He waited for everyone to understand. Everyone nodded.

 

“Good,” the centaur said, stepping back behind his desk. “Calypso, please continue.”

 

“Thank you, Chiron,” she said respectfully. “As I said before, Queen Hylla agreed to the mission. They had already heard from someone in Camp Jupiter that the line of Achilles had resurfaced, and that descendant was the ones who battled in Seattle. But the Amazons only agreed because of the possibility for peace. They wanted to see for themselves if they could negotiate with Alex, after what an Amazon saw in the airport.”

 

 _I can negotiate, I can DEFINITELY negotiate_ , Alex wanted to say, but Issa had focused such a piercing gaze on her, her tongue was caught in her mouth.

 

Issa’s eyes flickered back to Calypso. “Imogene.”

 

“Yes, Imogene. She was the Amazon sent by Hylla to relay the message to Alex May and her friends. I think they believed Alex was already aware of her parentage, and they thought that was why they were all planning to head to Camp Halfblood.”

 

All eyes turned to Piper.

 

Piper looked uncomfortable. “Actually, it was just me planning to go back. They went there to stop me.”

 

Chiron nodded, as if he’d heard that before. Calypso’s eyebrows rose in surprise, but she continued her story. “Nevertheless, they were aware of Alex May. Once I explained that they would be at Camp Halfblood, safe and secure, Hylla called for an Amazon to take the mission and…for some reason…” Calypso muttered, “ _Issa_ took it.”

 

Issa turned back to Alex with her lip curled, like she was looking at a cockroach she needed to squash.

 

Issa cleared her throat, crossing her arms over her chest, her voice coming out in a bored drawl. “The information provided to us from Camp Jupiter said she was dangerous. Knowing the history of Achilles’ descendants, and Achilles _himself_ …”

 

“What do you mean Achilles _himself_?” asked Leo. “What, you met him?”

 

Alex had never seen a face look so ‘done’. Issa scowled. “No. But unlike mortals and _civilian_ demigods, we don’t glorify him as a hero. He was a machine and a murderer, unleashed by Agamemnon and the gods who sided with Greece in the Trojan War. That’s all. And I decided that it would be better if the warrior who takes the mission is someone who could do what needed to be done.””

 

“And what exactly needs to be done?” Piper asked.

 

“To end the line, once and for all,” Issa shrugged. Alex pressed herself against the wooden wall, wanting to disappear forever. “To do the job that we believed was already finished. Because _someone_ was sloppy.” Here, she turned to Chiron.

 

Chiron furrowed his eyebrows at her. It was just a warning look but a remnant of the angry Chiron she’d seen that first night came back in a flash. She worried he might burst from such a throwaway comment. An angry Chiron still scared her, but she had no reason to believe now that he would ever become that angry again, at her, without good reason. And, as far as they had talked about, Chiron had no reason to hate or despise her anymore.

 

She’d grown to really love that old centaur. She had never seen someone so protective over a group of weird kids like herself. Someone who could deal with the temperaments of Meg, Harley, and also Alex’s deep issues.

 

That first night, when they walked around camp until it was well past midnight, he didn’t ask her about herself or pressure her to make an agreement to change, to make a decision about her future. Nah. He’d told her about the campers. Who loved archery the most, who loved to do art more and hated fighting. Who could cook a mean burrito. He knew them all. And he also told her about Achilles.

 

From Chiron, the image of a young, inexperienced, pressured Achilles grew in her mind. Someone who also had to deal with big expectations. Someone like any other camper here.

 

She could see how much hearing about his death hurt him, and how much it hurt to also have to kill Flynn, someone he could have helped, someone he should have stopped earlier.

 

Chiron was not someone who was naturally angry.

 

So to hear Issa just make an insensitive jab about how he didn’t kill a kid _well_?

 

Alex placed the jar of Cheetos loudly on the shelf.

 

Everyone jumped from the sound. Issa had her hand on her sword.

 

“ _Don’t_ talk to him like that,” Alex found herself saying. “You have no idea what he’s been through. I know you have a problem with me so just -- so just say it and we’ll be done.”

 

“My problem? My problem is that you need to be controlled,” Issa stated. “I don’t know what kind of spell you’ve put upon everyone here, but they’re treating the issue too lightly when we Amazons know the true consequences of what treating people like you _lightly_ are. You know what your family has caused the world? Death. Death and suffering for something as ludicrous as glory.”

 

Alex clenched her fist at her side, but then out of the blue came Piper, holding her arm down.

 

“Death and suffering is what every demigod goes through,” said Nico calmly. “And if you’d all just stop yelling, I’ll tell you what I came here to tell you. If it’s okay, Calypso,” he glanced at Calypso and she shrugged. “I met up with Calypso and Issa when they stopped at Camp Jupiter. And we were already having problems of our own there _before_ Ella brought up something she read in the Sibylline Books.”

 

And again, there was those books. Alex guessed they would be explained later, and what it had to do with her. She felt something against her hand and, looking down, she saw Piper was still holding her arm, but her hand had slid down to her wrist, her fingers resting lightly on the back of Alex’s hand.

 

She felt herself relaxing.

 

Nico explained that there had been issues in California and the Mid-West, even so far as Texas and Florida, of mortals and reported legacies obtaining big amounts of celestial bronze. The black-market operation was almost as big as the issues with the Triumvirate a few years ago ( _whatever that meant_ , Alex thought). The problem was, no one could figure out what was being made and for what purpose. Also, no one was actually attacking the camp, and no threats had been made to anyone, so ‘technically’ there was no danger. The source remained a mystery, but everyone seemed to be just sharing. Sharing, or waiting for something bigger to happen.

 

And then the Seattle Airport incident happened.

 

Over the past week or so, people started to upload monster sightings to Youtube and other video-sharing websites. There were even videos of people fighting them. But the uploaders were all anonymous, and even the children of Vulcan couldn’t figure out why they were untraceable.

 

The videos were all blurry, or glitching. That was the Mist at work, Nico explained, but there was still enough in the video to make people question. Articles and theories were popping up all over the Internet. Lots of mortals had started doing investigations, in the vein of conspiracy videos and ghost-hunting.

 

And then the punch-line happened this morning:

 

“We were getting ready to go. All three of us would travel on Festus and then make it to Camp by lunchtime,” Nico said. “But we’d set up a watch on what was happening on the Internet.” The way Nico said ‘Internet’ was strange somehow, but Alex couldn’t figure out why. It was like the word was foreign to him, but maybe he just didn’t use it enough. “And this morning, someone had posted the locations of Camp Halfblood and Camp Jupiter. For people to just _check out_.”

 

Chiron’s eyes widened.

 

Leo whispered something to himself, just as shocked. She saw him take out a pen and begin to write things down along his arm, muttering plans to himself.

 

“So then what happened?” Leo quickly asked, breaking the stunned silence. He only looked up once from his arm, but continued scribbling. “Have they set up something, what are Reyna and the Romans doing about it?”

 

“They’ve increased defences, both physical and magical. We weren’t too worried about Camp Halfblood because of the power of the Athena Parthenos. Thing still packs a magical punch just trying to long-distance shadow-travel here. It’s like it _forgets_ I can do that,” Nico rolled his eyes. “But they’re relying on mortal ignorance. Hopefully, they’ll turn away. The real danger are the Clear-Sighted mortals. The stupid ones, at least.”

 

The room went silent again. Piper had let go of Alex’s hand, and Alex felt the absence of it. But when she saw her move towards Leo, head lowered and discussing something serious, she couldn’t blame her for it. Alex, herself, went closer to Mags and Riley.

 

“Kinda makes you think how we were planning to do the same thing once,” Mags murmured.

 

“Yeah, but not for _this_ ,” Riley said. “Not for some massive magical manhunt. Not even a manhunt…people sound like they’re doing this for fun, like some Magical _Amazing Race._ But that’s not what we were planning to do. We just wanted people to be aware of monsters in the city.”

 

Alex sighed. “…is there a difference?”

 

Riley didn’t answer.

 

Everyone seemed to be absorbed in their own, small group conversations. And then Piper was the one to bring them all back together.

 

“What about Percy and Annabeth?” she asked.

 

“Tomorrow,” Nico answered. “They’re coming by late tomorrow. They have to finish things at Camp Jupiter, and then check with Manhattan to see if there was anything wrong there. Actually, Percy’s little sister has a school performance at night, so…they might be coming by late-late tomorrow.”

 

“How…” Chiron’s voice sounded tired, “… _who_ would share our locations? I don’t understand, I don’t know of _any_ demigod or friend of the camps who would so recklessly share that.”

 

“That’s just it. Whoever did this is…they’re no friend. And they knew exactly what they were doing. We have reason to believe that whoever’s doing this has a bigger plan in store, and…unfortunately, it may be connected to Alex.”

 

Again, she was in the spotlight. There was a difference between performing and having everyone look at her, and having everyone look at her like they were now. That _oh, no, what’s going to happen now?_ sort of look.

 

Alex took a deep breath and exhaled, readying herself.

 

“…what’s up?” she asked, just as tired as Chiron.

 

Mags looped her arm around Alex’s for support.

 

“The Sibylline Books…” Nico started. And then he took out from his pocket two objects: one, a rolled up paper, and the other, the bronze and gold thing she’d seen him holding at the ant-hill.

 

It looked like it was a shield fit for just her hand, and even from here she could see the intricate engravings on it. And then Alex had to blink twice, for she thought she saw the engravings _move_. She thought this would be the source of all her future misery, but instead, Nico unrolled the paper:

 

“Ella recalled this prophecy just as the news this morning came out. She was with us, the Senators, in the room and she just immediately remembered. Much to the Senate’s chagrin, she wrote it down on the marble floor in lipstick:

 

_Child of time, stronger than Father and sun,_

_Fall from grace, the kindly one,_

_Aegina’s Army tamed, time is dire,_

_Rally, shall men, to their heart’s desire_

_Worship the one who starts the fire._

 

** 

Yeah, Alex definitely wanted to disappear.

 

Once the prophecy was said (she _did_ double-check that was a prophecy and not just Ella the Harpy’s poetic stylings), everyone immediately looked to her for her reaction and nobody said a word. It was the worst kind of situation. And just as she was about to say something, Issa intervened and offered to just take her back to the Amazons and have her stand trial there.

 

And everyone snapped again.

 

“Stand trial? She hasn’t even _done_ anything!” Mags exclaimed.

 

“Issa, you are _way_ out of line --” Calypso butted in.

 

Leo had to excuse himself to use the one computer in the Big House that had Internet connection, but he pointed from his eyes to Issa’s as if to say: _I’m watching you_.

 

Riley was the only one who didn’t say anything, instead he had an arm around Alex’s shoulders, hugging her for support. Piper’s voice was the most calm. Alex didn’t think she was using charmspeak but maybe it was needed from how loud everyone had been getting. And no matter how many times Alex tried to speak up, everyone else was still loud.

 

And then Riley left her side when Issa pointed a finger at Mags.

 

“ _Hey_ , just because you’re some Ancient Greek Warrior Queen, that doesn’t mean we have to take any of your _bullshit_ ,” Riley snapped.

 

“Stand down, mortal, you don’t even belong here,” Issa sneered.

 

Nico and Chiron had given up trying to placate the debates; Nico was sighing, leaning against the wall and watching. Chiron sat behind his desk, rubbing his forehead.

 

“Prophecies have a million interpretations,” Piper said. “We’re not saying how you’re feeling is wrong, we can’t disagree with the things the other legacies of Achilles have done, but maybe you could open your mind and just _listen_ \--"

 

“Spare me,” Issa scoffed. “You all think yourselves heroes, especially your _special seven_ , but if this sorry group is any indication of the so-called greatness of this generation of demigods, then I’m _sorely_ disappointed.”

 

Piper’s eyes flashed.

 

Alex backed to the wall again. She closed her eyes and took slow breaths, trying to block out the sound of everyone arguing. Mags said something about bringing the Amazons _here_ instead and Issa shouted that they would never stoop so low. Calypso tried to calm Issa down, and Piper threatened to throw her off the _Argo III.5_. Chiron suggested breaking this up and continuing in the morning but Piper insisted they should try to come to _some_ sort of agreement tonight or else they’d all go to bed angry. Alex heard Nico whisper to Chiron that he could just shadow-travel everyone to their cabins.

 

Alex blinked once. In the split second of darkness, she saw a different scene -- old men in blue and white robes, arguing in a grand room, Alex sitting at the head of the table, but not exactly in the middle. She turned to her left, and she saw the eldest man in the room, a kingly figure with white hair and a beard. He was rubbing his forehead the same way Chiron was.

 

When she opened her eyes, the scene was Chiron’s office again.

 

Alex straightened her back and stepped forward.

 

“Hey --” she started, trying to get the closest person’s attention.

 

Riley looked at her but he look away again, trying to finish a heated discussion with Calypso.

 

“Guys, look, I’ll go to the Amazons,” Alex said.

 

Nico looked up, arching an eyebrow. But no one else had noticed yet.

 

“ _Hey!_ ” Alex shouted, and everyone stopped to look at her. “I’ll go. I’ll go to the Amazons and I’ll talk with them. They’re the ones I need to prove to the most that I’m not a threat. There’s no harm in talking. And we’ll _definitely_ talk,” she glanced at Issa. “If you’re okay with that.”

 

Issa narrowed her eyes. “No tricks?”

 

“No tricks. I -- I don’t even know how I’d begin to,” Alex added jokingly, trying for a smile. Issa did not smile. “I’m not a ‘trick’ kind of person.”

 

“But I am.” Mags stepped forward, crossing her arms.

 

"If she goes, she goes alone," Issa said.

 

“Feel free to remember I’m part of this,” Nico frowned.

 

“Your mission is different from mine, di Angelo. You’ve relayed your message about the celestial bronze market, you’re done here.”

 

“Not so fast, Issa,” Chiron interrupted. “We have to discuss the manner in which Alex May will be brought to the Amazons. How you treat her, how this investigation will continue. Now, I am ready to personally vouch for her and to explain in front of the entire Amazonian council my views on the matter.”

 

“And it’d be better if someone go with her,” Piper suddenly said. “Chiron, I don’t know if you can leave camp if all this other stuff is happening but maybe --” She looked around the room.

 

Alex’s heart dropped a little. She half-expected Piper to offer herself for the position, but maybe they weren’t there yet. Maybe they would never be there _at all_.

 

But Issa seemed to at least contemplate the idea, though she didn’t want to discuss it with everyone else. The discussion was left to her and Chiron, and before they were all excused, Alex made sure to feed Seymour a few more Cheetos. She patted the great leopard’s cheek before leaving.

 

Outside, the three of them -- her, Mags, and Riley -- sat at the grass in front of the Big House. The sun was already deep in the horizon, the sunset striking the sky in jagged oranges before melting in navy blue.

 

Mags was the first to talk to her, asking immediately _what the hell_ _she was doing_.

 

“It’s the only way to clear my name. They’ll never take someone’s _word_ for it. I need to go there, I need to apologize for what I’ve done and then they’ll see that I’m okay. And whatever else they need me to do…” Alex shrugged, gesturing around, “I’ll do it.”

 

“What exactly do you think is gonna happen?” Mags asked, incredulous. “Community service? Pick out the trash from their beach? This is the kind of prejudice that’s been going on for generations. The bedtime story Amazonians tell the next little Amazon kids, or however it works. It’s part of their curriculum at Amazon School --”

 

Alex mumbled, frowning only a little. “I don’t think they _have_ Amazon School…”

 

“Fact of the matter is, Alex, you’re their wicked witch. And they’re not just going to let you go because you smile at them.”

 

Alex stared at Mags. Did she have to be _that_ blunt? Mags had never been one to mince words, but she was usually more compassionate. But sometimes, it seemed that Mags valued her level-headedness more than her kindness.

 

She turned away from Mags, lying down on the grass so she saw no one and nothing.

 

“You’ve been uncharacteristically quiet,” Mags pointed at Riley.

 

“What, I can’t be quiet?” he shrugged.

 

“Usually you’re not. Where’s the opinion?” Mags asked.

 

“The opinion is…I’m thinking about it. Weighing the pros and cons, so to speak.” Riley joined Alex on the grass, lying down. She wiggled to the left to give him more space.

 

Mags arched an eyebrow. “Oh, really? And what have you come up with?”

 

“The pros and cons say…Alex should go to the Amazons.”

 

“You’re joking.”

 

“No. No, I’m not. For once, I’m not. Because she’s right. Alex is right, and also _Issa’s_ right. We don’t…we don’t know a lot of things about what happens to Alex, to _you_ ,” he turned to Alex, lowering his voice so only they could hear. She saw his eyes flicker to someone behind Mags, and then back to the two of them.

 

“Listen,” he said. “Alex _does_ get out of control. We downplay that, but we know the truth. Alex, you know the truth,” he pointed out. She sighed, nodding. “And we don’t know if that’s because you just like fighting deep down or…maybe there’s some sort of cosmic force making you get out of control. And, not gonna lie, this camp is mainly for kids. Not in a bad way. The Amazons would be built for a war, for dangerous, adult situations. You don’t want to cause anyone anymore trouble.”

 

Alex thought about it. And she nodded again.

 

“Mags?” Alex spoke up, turning her head to look at her, but Mags had turned her backs on both of them.

 

“All this time, I’ve been trying to be the smart one here and suddenly you guys have made up your mind. You just want to throw Alex into the fire because _why not_ , right? Alex is fireproof.”

 

Mags stood up from the grass, and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think my main problem nowadays is trying to figure out how to end the chapter so I don’t leave you guys hanging for too long! uni’s started up, full-swing, so my attention is mainly on work and study but this story will always be on my mind. 
> 
> please leave a comment or review if you can, let me know what you think, or if you’re eager to see what’s happening next!! 
> 
> thank you for reading!!


	14. I Got You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one with the two boys.

 

**ALEX.**

 

Issa and Chiron spoke for a long time. When the sun finally disappeared down the horizon, bringing all its striking oranges with it and leaving them in a coat of navy blue, Nico walked into the Big House and walked out almost ten seconds later. Issa was heard shouting at Nico before the door closed behind him, and he just shrugged.

 

“Amazons,” he said, rolling his eyes. Then he started walking towards Alex.

 

When Mags had walked away, Riley shifted and fidgeted for two whole minutes before Alex pushed him to get up and follow her. Riley and Mags had had their disagreements before, but nothing they couldn’t get over with a proper conversation. They’d all disagreed before -- and she knew she would have to talk to Mags soon as well, but she wasn’t feeling it right now. She was too tired to argue, so she sent Riley to go first. She had everyone else to talk to anyway.

 

And then everyone else (but Nico, surprisingly) disappeared too. Riley and Mags had been gone for less than ten minutes before Piper left without a word, looking busy, and Leo went back into the Big House (the back way), and Calypso had gone to check on Festus, so --

 

Alex tried her hardest not to be intimidated by the scary eighteen year-old.

 

“Hi,” he greeted, doing a short wave.

 

Alex offered a smile. “Hey.”

 

Nico arched an eyebrow. “You do realise the irony in having supposedly the most powerful warrior of all time be scared of me, right?”

 

“Didn’t you say you were Hades’ son? That’s pretty powerful to me.” She didn’t really know what to think of Nico. He’d looked almost _evil_ when she first saw him at the Myrmekes’ Lair, but maybe that was just stereotype talking. Hades had a big evil stereotype too, right? Was Hades even a good guy in reality?

 

But she told herself to relax. Anyone whose second-language was sarcasm was someone she could deal with.

 

“Can I say, though…” Alex cleared her throat, puffing out her chest and making her arms akimbo, trying to live up to the ‘scary powerful warrior’ moniker for once, “what you did to those Myrmekes...I don’t know exactly what you did but that seemed pretty unnecessary and too OP.”

 

“Too _OP_?”

 

“Over-powered.”

 

“Oh, I _know_ ,” Nico said with a knowing look. “I just had to make sure you actually said that.”

 

Alex snorted, rolling her eyes with a smile.

 

“But now can _I_ say…” Nico pointed at himself. “I’m having a tough time trying to figure out why you’re so protective of them. They’re basically gigantic cockroaches. But _worse_.”

 

“They didn’t seem that way to me. They’re more like...really rowdy pets,” Alex shrugged, but her bragging stance deflated. “Speaking of…” she kicked at the grass a little, “you said you have all the answers to my questions. We…haven’t really spoken about that yet. And my grandfather…”

 

“Right, sorry,” Nico nodded. “I did say that, didn’t I?” He rested his hand on the handle of his sword. “I can speak to ghosts. Not all of them, of course, I can’t reach everyone. But while I was in the Underworld, I strolled past Elysium and someone at the fence spoke to me. He was…a champion, I think?”

 

“Boxing,” Alex added with a short nod. Then her eyes widened. “Wait, Elysium? That’s heaven, right?”

 

“Sort of. It’s not that simple. There’s tiers --”

 

“Or, no, it wouldn’t really be _heaven_ it’s just where all the heroes go, right? And then there’s the one before that, the Asphalt Fields --?”

 

“-- _Asphodel --_ ”

 

“What’s the one after Elysium?”

 

“Isles of the Blest.”

 

“ _Right_. So, generally, Elysium and those Isles...are…” Alex paused for effect, “the Good Place?”

 

Nico stared at her. Then he groaned, hanging his head.

 

“… _ever_ since Will paid that Netflix thing -- if I hear _one more_ Good Place/Medium Place/Bad Place joke, I’m going to _throw_ someone into Chaos --”

 

“Sorry,” Alex laughed. “But -- Will? Is that Will Solace?” The Apollo kids had been missing their ex-head counsellor ever since they fumbled the healing of Paolo Montes’ missing ear. None of them realised that it’d been missing until halfway through the next day and Leticia screamed at the hole where his ear should have been.

 

 _“Look, I am hole-y_ ,” Paolo joked. Leticia screamed again.

 

“Yeah,” Nico smiled. It was so startling seeing such a soft smile on his face that it made Alex grin again. “Anyway, _Elysium_...”

 

“So if that’s where all the heroes go...does that mean my grandfather’s a hero?” She liked the sound of that.

 

“Yep. Whatever he did, he’s there. He seemed like a really nice guy when I spoke. He was a little pushy, though. He _psst-ed_ at me for like five minutes and I legitimately thought there was a gas leak in the Underworld before I looked to the fence.” He paused. “Most people in Elysium don’t want to deal with the rest of the Underworld.”

 

“Fair enough. But…does that mean _everyone_ gets to the Underworld? Even people who don’t believe in the Greek gods?”

 

“No, you go to wherever you believe in.”

 

Alex looked puzzled. “But our entire family’s been Catholic.”

 

Nico’s eyebrows rose slowly. “Apparently, not all. It’s funny, too because…he’d said that he was staying with family.”

 

 _Family?_ She couldn’t think of a single person in her family, dead or alive, who believed in anything else but God and heaven. Unless, it was someone who died recently and she didn’t know about it...

 

No, no way.

 

But even then…

 

Alex’s face suddenly fell. She wasn’t even sure whose side of her family was the line of Achilles. Her mom, or her dad? All this time, she’d thought it was her mother because of her athletic background, but _Lolo Etto_ was from her father’s side of the family.

 

She groaned, covering her face with her hands. She continued to make groaning, complaining sounds until Nico finally cleared his throat.

 

“Uhh...should I do something?” he asked.

 

“No, it’s fine, it’s just...I thought you were supposed to give me all the _answers_ , not more _questions_.”

 

“Part of the job,” he shrugged. “But, okay, how about -- any question you have, I’ll answer. To the best of my ability,” he added quickly, like she might sue him if he didn’t add that disclaimer.

 

She first asked how he knew about her.

 

“Your grandfather. I didn’t even mean to go to Camp Jupiter at all until he told me. Spirits and gods have a way of being super vague…I think it’s just an old people thing. They want you to learn, or whatever. But anyway, I was visiting my dad while my boyfriend was studying for exams and while I was just checking the surrounds, I heard him calling to me from the top of the wall of Elysium. He said he’d seen me walking around and figured out I could go between the Underworld and the Overworld. So he wanted me to look for you. Just to make sure you were okay. And…”

 

Nico pursed his lips to the side. Alex waited, shrugging her shoulders as if to remind him she was still there, _waiting_.

 

“And I usually don’t do that…” he said carefully, like this wasn’t what he intended to say at all. Alex narrowed her eyes. “But I thought...I might as well.” When he noticed how she was looking at him, he raised his hands lazily in surrende.r “Sorry, I’m just trying to figure out how to say the next bit without overwhelming you.”

 

“Consider _over_ -overwhelmed. I don’t think I could get anymore overwhelmed than I am already. My ancient ancestor is the guy with the weird heel. My other ancestor tried to deal Greek demigod genocide. They were both, supposedly, _white_ when as far as I know I’m Filipino as hell.”

 

“Flynn Stockett was...not white, I think.”

 

“Okay, that’s one mystery solved. And now the prophecy says I’m someone’s heart’s desire with a fire or something. Yippee-skippee,” she rolled her eyes.

 

“You mean -- _rally, shall men, to their heart's desire / worship the one who starts the fire_?”

 

“Right. _That_. Whatever.”

 

He looked at her like he was about to tell both a bad joke and a horrible truth, but then stopped himself at the last minute before he did.

 

“The thing about prophecies is that you never know what the real answer is until it happens,” Nico continued. “We can guess all we want but something unexpected can happen at the last minute. Only when you look back does everything make sense.”

 

Alex didn’t answer. The sarcasm was getting to her. It was her perfect defense against having to take something seriously, and to hide that she was actually _taking this seriously already_. Too seriously, maybe. Maybe the sarcasm was only hiding the anxiety she was starting to feel. Screw prophecies, she wanted to say. Screw everything.

 

She crossed her arms over her chest, a frown on her face now as she looked at the ground.

 

“Can I ask you something? And you give me a no-bullshit answer?” she asked.

 

Nico didn’t say anything, he just nodded.

 

“What happens if I just walk away?”

 

“Everything.”

 

“ _What_?” Alex asked, baffled.

 

“I’m serious,” he said, the seriousness showing on his face. “Everything will happen anyway. If it’s the end of the world, that’s what’ll happen. If someone’s going to die, that’s what’ll happen too. Even if you take yourself out of it, the world’s gonna find a way of bringing you back into it. And even then…” Nico tilted his head. “Prophecies know things about the people they’re made for, even if the person doesn’t know it themselves. They wouldn’t choose someone who gives up. If you get what I mean.”

 

He paused. Then added: “Do you actually see yourself walking away?”

 

Alex thought for a moment. “...I don’t know.”

 

“There’s your answer.”

 

She pulled a face. “I thought only old people gave vague answers to make you ‘learn’.”

 

“Technically, I’m eighty-nine years old _-ish_.”

 

“You’re _what_?”

 

“Never mind, what I mean to say is...you’re not alone. Does it help you to know that a dozen demigods go through this all the time?”

 

“Sort of.” She paused. “ _Yes_.”

 

“Then just think about that. Because that also means, that there’s dozens of remedies and solutions, because people have gone through what you’ve gone through already.”

 

“You’re a little too wise for an eighteen-year-old.”

 

“Eighty-nine-ish.”

 

“Of course, sorry. _Eighty-nine-ish_.” Nico smiled again. “So we can get started any time you like. And anywhere. While Chiron and Issa talk, and…” he looked around, “everyone’s gone to who-knows-where. I can help you. Do you have anymore questions?”

 

There was something about this Nico guy. Everything about him screamed emo kid but everything else also screamed ‘most sensible person you will ever talk to _ever_ ’. She felt like she was in the hot-seat. Alex thought about it. “I dunno, I guess…I could ask about why I’m so tired. Is that a common thing?”

 

“Demigods using their powers for the first time do get really tired. Apollo got completely knocked out when he used his powers for the first time as Lester.”

 

“... _what_?”

 

“Never mind.”

 

“I’ve been using my abilities forever, though. I mean, it’s not the _first_ time I used them.” She scratched her head. “Then again...Riley suggested that maybe I only got tired when I fought for vengeance, or just _in anger_.”

 

“That would make sense. There’s always a _trick_ to these things too. Curses in disguise, or the other way around,” Nico tilted his head from side to side. “My sister can summon gold and jewels from the ground, but anyone who tries to use them gets cursed.”

 

“Fun.”

 

“Anything else?”

 

“ _Dreams_. Everyone gets dreams, right?”

 

“Yep. We hate them.”

 

The bluntness of his comment made Alex laugh.

 

“We hate them, but --” Nico added, “they can be helpfuls sometimes. Are yours helpful?”

 

“Sometimes? I have two common ones. The first is complete _shit_ . It’s this woman-spirit tormenting me and making me feel like crap all the time. The second does nothing _but_ help. He’s like my second dad at this point.”

 

Nico looked amused. “Okay, we can look through the books on that.”

 

“And then there’s just the general thing about like…why am I even that important? I don’t get it. Percy sounds like _he_ should be the greatest warrior of all time. Or Annabeth, or Reyna, I’ve heard _so_ much about them -- I just feel…I feel like a mistake.”

 

After a whirlwind of questions, excitement, and Nico’s chill demeanour balancing her out -- she was back in the spiral of confusion again.

 

Nico opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. He clasped his hands in front of him and then sighed, giving up with trying to be prepared. He swung his arms along his sides, shaking his head. “…I probably shouldn’t have said I have the answers to _all_ your questions. I have practical demigod knowledge, and the prophecy, and some knowledge of Achilles’ legacies that you probably already know about.” Nico sighed. “Otherwise, all I really have to offer is a conversation with your grandfather. And most of the time, he told me about how I should cut my hair shorter.”

 

Alex only gave a half-smile, disheartened.

 

“ _But_ …” Nico said slowly, “also to tell you that you’d have to be strong. And to remember that your family’s looking out for you. Always. Which is a pretty nice sentiment for anyone to hear.”

 

They’d been standing this whole time and Alex suddenly wanted to sit down again. She didn’t, for fear of being rude to Nico, who, in the pale moonlight, suddenly looked as tired and sullen as she always felt. Maybe being the son of Hades wasn’t as cool as she thought.

 

She looked up at the sky instead, the one thing she used to do as a kid to make her feel small but in a good way. Like she was part of something. Important, but an important _speck_ in a universe of other important specks. Belonging.

 

It was much simpler when she was younger. When her parents asked her what she wanted, more than anything in the world, she’d say a toy or a bike. But now? She just wanted peace.

 

And still. Nico’s story about her grandfather actually helped.

 

“That…that’s actually okay, that calmed me down a little,” Alex admitted, hugging her arms around herself. “My family always believed in just…letting things happen and dealing with it. Together. No use in trying to manipulate the universe, you know?”

 

“Every demigod’s hard lesson to learn.”

 

“You think it’s too late to get claimed as a daughter of Ares? Ellis is still trying to get me to stay with them.”

 

“ _Probably_ a little too late.” Nico smiled again, before sobering up. “Like I said, you’re not alone. You got Ellis. You got Clovis, who can probably help you with your dreams and identifying everyone. And he could probably give you a sound sleep whenever you need it.”

 

“All demigods have a tough time sleeping?”

 

“Doesn’t take a demigod to know an insomniac,” he pointed out.

 

“True. And...yeah, that’s a good idea. About Clovis, I mean,” Alex nodded. “We can…ask him at dinner?”

 

As if on cue, both the dinner announcement and her stomach rumbling happened.

 

“Jesus, you guys really do run on fate and coincidence here, huh?” Alex said.

 

“You get sick of it.”

 

Just then, Riley and Piper appeared from the direction of the cabins. Together. They seemed to be deep in the middle of something, but it was too dark to be able to see their facial expressions. Alex managed to catch only a few sentences:

 

 _“…don’t tell her…”_ from Piper,

 

And _“…she deserves to know…”_ from Riley,

 

And then _“…tell mine, if you tell yours…”_ from Piper again.

 

They sounded annoyed at each other.

 

And then they stopped immediately once they were within her hearing range. Alex sighed. Of course Riley would know when to stop, he’d been the one who tested her hearing all those months ago -- stealing a measuring wheel from the engineering department at the university.

 

Piper stopped walking as soon as she noticed Alex.

 

“Hey,” Alex waved, showing a lopsided smile. Piper waved weakly, and then gestured that she was heading to dinner, without another word or a look. She turned on her heel and disappeared towards the Dining Pavilion.

 

“Piper?” Alex called out, but her voice was too weak for Piper to possibly hear.

 

Alex’s hand lowered awkwardly. She hugged her arms close around her again.

 

“What’s going on here?” Riley asked, walking up to Nico and Riley.

 

Nico arched an eyebrow. “Just talking about the Underworld.”

 

“Aw, _sick_.”

 

“No. Not sick,” Nico frowned.

 

Alex was still too confused about Piper to notice Nico’s manner towards Riley.

 

Had she done something wrong? Had Riley said something?

 

“Hey…Riles…” she started, using his old nickname, “what did Piper say?”

 

Riley glanced at her, after pulling a curious face towards Nico. “Huh? Oh, you mean Piper? Mags still wasn’t talking to me and Piper was there so we just started chatting. We, uh…” he sighed. “Talked about the new thing Chiron’s suggested she does.”

 

“What? What new thing?” Alex asked, surprised.

 

Nico watched the pair of them carefully.

 

“She’s gonna go to Camp Jupiter. Not related to the whole prophecy-fire-apocalypse thing. It’s for the storm-spirits thing. She’s going to be adviser to the Prayer there, or something.”

 

“Praetor,” Nico corrected.

 

“Whatever,” Riley rolled his eyes. “And I told her… _wow_ , that’s really cool but also, maybe she should tell you and _us_ instead of just planning to disappear in the middle of the night…”

 

“She said that?” Alex’s face dropped.

 

“That doesn’t sound like Piper,” Nico intervened.

 

Riley narrowed his eyes at the boy. “I’m sorry, and you’ve got an opinion because…?”

 

Nico matched his suspicious gaze. The boys engaged in an intimidating-stare contest for a few seconds before Nico broke it off, and he excused himself to go to dinner, telling Alex they would talk more later about their plans.

 

“What plans?” Riley asked, when Nico had left completely.

 

“Nothing. It’s nothing,” Alex mumbled, distracted now about all the anxious possibilities. “What did Piper say? Was she going, like...permanently? Or maybe she’s just going to visit…?”

 

“I dunno, Al,” Riley said, earnest. “She sounded pretty set on it.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Had she read too much into her friendship with Piper? Even just talking about _friendship_ , right, _friendship_ and nothing else. She was so naive to believe everyone would just stick around forever, of _course_ people could leave whenever they wanted to. That didn’t mean they weren’t friends, it was just...they were just going their separate ways. Doing their own things.

 

“How did you guys start talking about that?” she had to ask.

 

Riley shrugged. “Nah, we just...started talking about what we were all going to do after this. Since you’re going to the Amazons, and none of us are allowed to go with you…”

 

“Wait, no, they’re still deciding on that, aren’t they?” She felt like a little kid again, directionless, looking to the adults for decisions.

 

“I don’t know, man...it looks pretty strict. But if we can’t go, then Mags and I will probably head back home. And then Piper’s going to Camp Jupiter.” Riley sighed. “Dream team’s breaking up.”

 

Why did she even feel like Piper owed her anything, she was free to do whatever she wanted, and it’s not like they’d known each other forever -- of _course_ , she would choose the mission that lets her stay with her old friends, and she _should_...

 

“Well, _anyway_. This is too much crazy to deal with over -- what, just two weeks? Less than that?” Riley let out a low whistle, putting his hands on his hips.

 

When he saw how quiet Alex was being, his enthusiastic expression sobered into something more solemn, serious.

 

“Hey…we haven’t had much time to ourselves, have we? Maybe that’s it,” he suggested gently. “Maybe that’s why it feels so weird. We’ve had no one but each other, just the three of us, for ages and then you had Piper, and now we have an entire _camp_ …”

 

 _Had_ Piper, _had_ Piper…

 

She felt so stupid, how could she ever think…?

 

But then why should she care so much? No one had to change their lives for her. She wasn’t that special anyway. The only special part about her was her abilities, and now that it was proving to be too dangerous and she had already offered to go to the Amazons, it wasn’t ‘special’ anymore -- it was a _disease_ that needed to be cured.

 

She wasn’t the ‘cool’ special anymore.

 

And she couldn’t blame Piper, or anyone, one _bit_ if they decided this was where their journey with her ended.

 

Couldn’t blame her at all.

 

She’d have Riley and Mags, when the trial with the Amazons was done. She’d always have them.

 

But Piper was a little more difficult. Piper was going away.

 

Alex felt something hurting in her chest, that familiar ache in her heart, and she hated it immediately. She felt _stupid_ . _Immature_.

 

She clenched her hands into fists, shutting her eyes and trying to relax.

 

“Whoa, whoa, I know where you’re getting at, kiddo,” Riley said, putting an arm over her shoulders and hugging her close.

 

“No, you don’t,” Alex muttered, her voice already threatening to break from a sob.

 

“Oh, but I _do_. Who’s the one who always finds you eating at two in the morning because you can’t sleep because you’re feeling like complete crap?”

 

Alex sniffed. “You do.”

 

“Who drove you halfway across the city just to let you drop off that girl’s notebook when she dropped it in class? And she didn’t even care about it, you just wanted to see her again?”

 

“…you did. God, that was so stupid.”

 

“No, it wasn’t. It was... _you_.”

 

“…so I’m stupid?”

 

“Yes. But a good-stupid.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

“You’re welcome. So who’s the one who always knows how to make you feel better? Who always finds a solution?”

 

“Mags.”

 

“ _Ex-squeeze me_?”

 

“ _And you_ ,” Alex laughed. She took a deep, shuddering sigh and then turned to so Riley could hug her completely, burying her face in his chest. She didn’t even hug him back, she knew that he wouldn’t mind. This way, he could cocoon her with all his Riley-ness.

 

And he was right. Riley-ness was always the one thing that could make her feel better. Different from Nico’s calmness. Riley was just...a living, talking, walking hug.

 

“But I hate being stupid. I hate being so -- I just get carried away. With _everything_ ,” she complained. “With trying to be too friendly, with trying to be just _liked_ , with trying to get Piper to like _me_ \-- and even when I try to control my fighting --” she whispered harshly, pulling away from the hug so she could look Riley in the eye, her own eyes watering from tears. “I can never do it. Something else in me gets carried away. That’s why I need to go to the Amazons, maybe they can fix how out-of-control I am, and that’ll fix everything else.”

 

“Wait,” Riley furrowed his eyebrows, “Alex, you don’t need to be _fixed_.”

 

“No, I _do_ . That’s the point. There’s something inside me that is broken and I just need to fix it so I don’t get hurt anymore. And I don’t hurt _other_ people too.”

 

Riley was no longer smiling. He peeled his hug away from Alex, but he placed his hands on his shoulders. “No, Alex. That’s not what we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to prove your innocence. We’re not going to get you _fixed_ , we don’t need to do that.”

 

Alex frowned, stepping back. “ _Yes_. I do. You don’t get it, Riles. You’re fine now. You never had something like this, like -- like a part of you that no one knows what to do with, and all that it does -- even when I do good -- all it does in the end is make people confused, and it makes people angry. And something like that is never good, so…” she said, her voice shaking. “That’s why I’m going. I need to be controlled.”

 

“Wait. Wait, _Alex_ …”

 

“Let’s go to dinner,” Alex said, her mind racing now. She felt like a train pulling out of a station, she needed to go full steam ahead or else she’d break up and get stuck. “We’ll go to dinner and then I’ll plan out my defense.” She started marching towards the Dining Pavilion. “You guys can help me, we’ll stay up late, we’ll --”

 

Riley ran in front of her and stopped her before she could get any further.

 

“ _Alex_ . I’m not letting you go to dinner like this. You’re having another attack. Remember what we said? Just breathe? Lay out all your thoughts. Know what’s real and what’s not. What you can control, and what you can’t.” He started showing himself taking deep breaths -- _one, two, three_ \-- and Alex copied him.

 

_Inhale, exhale -- everyone was leaving --_

 

_Inhale, exhale -- she was useless, ruining everything, just a burden --_

 

_Inhale, exhale -- why did she even agree to this Amazon thing? --_

 

_Inhale, exhale -- maybe she could just stay at camp and help defend it? She’d be useful then, right? --_

 

_Inhale, exhale -- but still dangerous, they wouldn’t want to even touch you, and the Amazons? --_

 

_Inhale, exhale -- they were going to KILL her --_

 

_Inhale, exhale -- she needed to get away --_

 

_ Inhale, exhale -- what could she control? herself -- _

 

Why did everyone get to go away to their freedom except for her?

 

She said the last sentence out loud as she hugged Riley again, flopping down on him, knowing that he could take her entire weight. Riley. Always there for her, always looking out for her. Her big brother, essentially. The one she never thought she needed.

 

“I want to go away,” she said again, crying now.

 

Riley hugged her tight, stroking her hair with his hand and patting her back. “I know, I know,” he said.

 

“I don’t _care_ anymore, I just -- I’m just so tired of always -- just _always_ \--” she sobbed.

 

“I _know_. I know…” he whispered.

 

Behind her, she heard the creak of the Big House front door opening. Riley’s hand left her back, probably waving at whoever was coming outside. Riley called out to them, telling them they were heading to dinner, just chilling right now, just chilling -- and then in a whisper only Alex could hear, he said:

 

“I’ll figure it out, Al. You and me. I got you, kid. _I got you_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 👀
> 
> there’s a lot to unpack here so …. i’m just gonna leave this here. 
> 
> lots of emotions in this chapter, and i hope it wasn’t too overwhelming, but you can only imagine how alex is feeling. there’s a lot that you miss when you get stuck in an anxiety attack...
> 
> so !! we’ll see !!
> 
> let me know if the emotional scenes work? sometimes i worry that i do put in too much, or it's all going too fast, but i guess from personal experience, when a lot of big things happen at the same time...it really is an emotional rollercoaster :(


	15. In Moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one which moonlight reveals.

_LAST NIGHT_.

 

Piper caught up with Riley. She’d waited for a while outside the Hermes cabin, waiting for him and Mags to finish speaking, and when he’d found her waiting, the first thing he did was scowl. She never thought she’d be on Riley’s bad side.  

 

Mags’ bad side, maybe, because the older girl was the most headstrong person she’d seen since Annabeth.

 

Maybe even _Alex’s_ bad side too, because they’d argued before.

 

But Riley? DJ Riles? Riley who liked to cook and bake and had a playlist for every occasion and knew all the lyrics to Ariana Grande’s newest album? The kindest guy she knew?

 

She had never seen him so hostile. And after chasing him for a minute and trying various ways to talk to him, she was really trying not to make it worse.

 

“Listen, Pipes, I’m tired, I’m _stressed_ …” he said, heading back to the Big House.

 

“No, we have to talk about this. Please, Riley, come on…”

 

“I can’t even believe you’d _think_ that about me.” He spun around, hurt in his eyes. “It was a stupid mistake! I’ve already taken it out!”

 

“I know that, but now we don’t know what’s going to happen. You _did_ have your sim card in, and if that has _anything_ to do with how the mortals found our location…”

 

Riley furrowed his eyebrows. “ _Don’t_.”

 

“You have to tell Chiron.”

 

“I’m not telling anybody.”

 

“You have to be _honest_.”

 

“Oh, really? That’s rich, you know. That’s _really_ , really rich coming from someone who’s hiding something as well.”

 

Piper stopped. “What do you mean?”

 

“Your little vacation to Camp Jupiter? Moving out, going off to work your Roman government job?”

 

She frowned. “How did you find out about that?” She hadn’t told anyone yet, not even Leo, and she was sure Chiron wouldn’t have either.

 

“Does it matter? You’re leaving. Right when things are getting dangerous.”

 

She clenched her fists. “That’s _not_ why --”

 

“But you’re still leaving, aren’t you? When were you going to tell us? After Alex has already been sent off to Amazon Jail? You didn’t even stand up for her in that room,” he accused, pointing at her. He’d looked angry before, but now he just looked _mad_ \-- in all senses of the word. The clouds in the sky cleared and they were covered in moonlight, brightening the madness in Riley’s eyes.

 

Piper grounded herself, keeping her voice calm.

 

She spoke up. “That’s _not_ true --”

 

He raised his hand to stop her. “Save it. You know, I actually thought you cared about us. About Alex. We needed you -- _still_ need you, but as soon as you got your ride to Camp Halfblood you were happy to just ditch us and leave us in the dirt. Go back to your old life, introduce us as your ‘mortals’ that you couldn’t shake off. Make us look like we just followed you like stray dogs. Fun extras for the marathon. _And, look! They can fight!_ We were souvenirs you brought back from your ‘awesome’ time in Seattle.”

 

She didn’t flinch, she wouldn’t, but the words still hurt. Is that what they really felt? Is that how Alex really felt?

 

“We let you stay with us, we told you everything about ourselves. We don’t even know anything about _you._ The lone wolf thing gets old. And, you know what? It’s actually so sad. Because I figured out your deal, Piper.”

 

Piper didn’t say anything. Her eyes flashed, daring him to continue.

 

“You’re someone who thought they could make it big by themselves. But it didn’t work out that way, did it? I’ve seen a _hundred_ kids like you. You needed to come home with something exciting because you didn’t want everyone to pity you --”

 

She took an angry step forward. “ _Stop it_ \--”

 

Riley stepped back, widening the gap between them. “…after all your talk about being ‘independent’, you actually failed to live alone. You got bored. You got _boring_. You lived an un-special life. And for someone who hates the spotlight, your pride can sure take a beating when you’re suddenly _average_. So what do you do? You bring home _the descendant of Achilles_ …”

 

Furious, she reached forward to strike him across the face, but her accuracy was compromised by her anger and he easily dodged it.

 

Piper huffed, clenching the fist that missed his face. “What the _hell_ , Riley --"

 

Riley held out his arms, welcoming her to attack him again.

 

“Am I wrong?” he asked coolly.

 

Piper glared.

 

Where the hell did all this come from? Something told her there was more to this than just Riley being protective of his family -- something connected to the issue with the mortals, and something with Alex, and something with the Amazons -- but this wasn’t the time or place to find out. And she was too pissed off about all his truth-spilling to think straight.

 

… _was_ it even truth?

 

But, now, they could see the Big House -- and could also _be seen_ by the people left there. Alex and Nico.

 

Riley had noticed too, and his expression hardened even more when he looked back at Piper.

 

She took a deep breath and composed herself, the fury still clear in her eyes as she spoke:

 

“You have to tell someone. Chiron or Alex. I understand not wanting to tell Chiron, but if you **_don’t tell her_** , you’re just going to make her feel like she’s left out again,” she warned. “She already feels like everything’s her fault, so she deserves to --"

 

He scoffed. “You don’t get to tell me what **_she deserves to know_**.”

 

“I’m already going to **_tell mine. If you tell yours_** , that’ll solve things, Riley, I promise. You won’t get in trouble. Just be honest.” Piper looked at him square in the face. “Tonight’s already been too much, so I’m telling her tomorrow morning. You better consider telling someone too.”

 

She looked back at the direction of the Big House and saw Alex wave at her.

 

**

 

She didn’t have another dream that night, but she did see something she didn’t expect.

 

Mitchell had Annabeth install a fireplace at the corner of the Aphrodite cabin two years ago, when the weather at camp suddenly became a winter wonderland at Artemis’ request. She and Apollo had argued about it, and Apollo only agreed to let winter fall on the camp as long as it was a gentle winter and they could do all the secular Christmas activities that the mortals usually did. Artemis had wanted winter to fall on camp, to match the season outside in the real world, so that the campers could train in snowy conditions.

 

It had been too cold for most of the Aphrodite kids. Most of them stayed in camp to avoid the harsh winter breeze of the outside world, so this was (to quote Drew Tanaka) ‘the worst possible effing thing _ever_ ’.

 

But after their personal fireplace was installed, the complaining subsided.

 

The season now was spring. The fireplace looked like it hadn’t been used in years, though it was now part of the cabin upkeep to make sure it was clean (much to the Aphrodite cabin’s chagrin). They didn’t need to light the fireplace at all, no matter how cold and uncomfortable Piper felt.

 

So when Piper opened her eyes in the middle of the night to see the fire roaring, and someone sitting by it, she was intrigued.

 

Was it Lacy?

 

It looked like her from the back. But when she looked to her little sister’s bed, she saw the blankets rising up and down with Lacy’s breathing. Mitchell was in his bed too.

 

The girl at the fire stayed sitting. Piper didn’t move out of her bed, nor even shift her blankets.

 

“Lady Hestia?” she called out softly.

 

A second passed, and then a gentle hum as a reply.

 

Piper breathed a sigh of relief. She relaxed in her bed. It was normal for the goddess to stay in camp, of course, and to stay by the hearths. Yet somehow it felt wrong to not speak with her.

 

Crawling out of bed, she sat down on the soft rug next to Hestia, careful not to sit too close. When she looked at her, she saw red glowing eyes -- she thought maybe that was just the reflection from the fire, but from different angles, they retained the same soft glow.

 

“Welcome, Piper McLean,” said Hestia.

 

Piper bowed her head. Hestia kept looking at the fire.

 

“I see you have come home,” Hestia continued. “And I see you are still as conflicted as ever.”

 

Piper didn’t say anything. Hestia’s voice, though young like the form of the little girl she took, spoke volumes of wisdom. This didn’t seem like the moment to have a conversation. This was a _story_.

 

“You have returned from your trip, changed, yet…still the same,” the goddess said. “And you bring home Achilles’ daughter.”

 

Piper furrowed her eyebrows. She opened her mouth to consider correcting her, and then --

 

Hestia shrugged. “Legacy. Demigod. Child. Daughter. They are all the same. Just as all wars remain the same, and us gods do, and you mortals too. Just as truths and lies are two sides of the same coin. But war is not about truth. War is about something else. Something you already know.” Hestia glanced at her, the glowing red eyes turning into something fierce. And then the glow dulled and she looked back at the hearth. “But something you don’t care for. Which is the worst mistake of all.”

 

Behind them, Lacy stirred in her sleep. She let out a loud snore. Piper winced.

 

And then Hestia didn’t speak for the longest time. It might have been a whole hour, it might have been only thirty seconds, but the span of time between Hestia’s next statement and her last statement was so great it _maddened_ Piper. Why couldn’t gods ever say just what they needed to hear? Why did everything have to be a puzzle that deconstructed every fibre of a demigod’s being? First, Riley made her feel like crap. Now _Hestia_ was too?

 

When Hestia didn’t speak again, it was when Piper finally looked back at her and Hestia was already staring at her, as if waiting to be noticed.

 

“I -- I’m sorry, Lady Hestia,” Piper whispered.

 

“Hmm.” Hestia narrowed her eyes. “Do you know why I remained neutral in the Trojan War?”

 

Piper stared into Hestia’s eyes, trapped in the glowing embers reflected in them, and then an image flashed in her mind:

 

An old beachside town. The buildings made from mud and stone, a greater building in the distance, high above a hill. Piper found herself standing among children who wore brown and earth-toned clothes like Hestia did, all dresses and tunics and large sheets of cloth cut and wrapped around children by harassed mothers. Maybe there had been a big celebration earlier that day, the remains of clean, brushed hair still bouncing around the children’s head -- but now, in their play-clothes, they were becoming wild again. Piper watched Hestia dance and laugh with smaller children, all of them holding hands in a circle. Hestia’s glowing eyes were still bright even in the sunlight.

 

And then there were a stampede of foot-steps from up the road, leading from the great building on the hill.

 

“ _INCOMING!_ ” An older voice shouted.

 

A group of teenage boys rushed down the road, wearing chitons marked with dirt. The boys pushed and shoved against each other, roaring with laughter, but the leader of the pack was zooming forward. As soon as he reached the kids, however, he changed the way he ran, doing a weird hopping movement that had all the children explode in fits of laughter.

 

“Can anyone guess who I am?” the boy grinned. “Anyone?”

 

“Oh, come off it, Achilles!” one of the teenagers shouted, groaning as most of the group went off into the main part of town.

 

The boy Achilles ignored them, pulling a face at them before returning to the children.

 

The children guessed their wrong answers (‘A deer!’, ‘A rabbit!’), and then it was Hestia who shouted with a giggle: “A centaur!”

 

The children all gasped, and started to copy Achilles, hopping madly around the road like a bunch of half-centaurs.

 

Achilles gave Hestia a knowing look. He crouched in front of her. “Lady Hestia,” he bowed respectfully, and then looked up with a cheeky grin. “Cheating again, I see?”

 

“I had to make it end somehow. You looked _ridiculous_.”

 

“ _Not_ the most ridiculous thing you’ve seen me do, let’s be honest.”

 

The two of them laughed. Achilles stood up, and ruffled the top of Hestia’s head.

 

“But you must be here because you have heard,” Achilles said, his tone becoming serious. “I am to join the centaur Chiron, and be trained alongside other would-be heroes.”

 

Hestia nodded solemnly -- almost _sadly_ , if Piper was to guess.

 

“So begins your destiny, son of Peleus, son of Thetis,” she sighed, all the age in her voice gone, replaced by childlike sadness. “I only wish you would come back soon. So you can play with us again.”

 

“I’ll be leaving the Myrmidons with you.” Achilles and Hestia looked to the group of teenage boys, some of them smirking and talking with the local village girls, who were blushing under their attention.

 

“I would rather the Myrmidons be returned to their original state,” Hestia frowned.

 

“Ants do not make a good army,” Achilles chuckled. “Aegina, perhaps, may benefit from insects, but Thessaly needs _strong_ hands that can hold swords.”

 

Hestia lifted her nose. “Monkeys, then. I shall turn them all into monkeys.”

 

Achilles laughed. They both watched as some of the boys made a fool of themselves, trying to pool together money to buy jewellery for the girls from a vendor. They tried to get money from one of the other boys standing farthest from the girls. He swatted them away, rolling his eyes. Achilles smiled fondly at him.

 

Then his smile faded. “Father says I must go alone.”

 

Hestia saddened again. “If that is your father’s will…”

 

“But what is the will of the gods?”

 

Hestia shook her head. “Nothing you want to hear.”

 

Achilles pressed his lips together. He smoothed his hair back, running his fingers through his hair in a way that Piper had seen Alex do many times.

 

“I will convince Chiron to let me bring Patroclus. He has been my sparring partner since we were boys. No one knows me the way Patroclus does,” Achilles said, determined. “The gods want me to be their hero? Fine. But I will do it on my terms. I will be the first hero to have everything I want.”

 

Hestia said nothing.

 

The scene melted into a different part of the land, the moonlight shining bright on the fields next to the town. Two figures on horses stuck to the orchards, hidden under the shade of the trees.

 

“Why does the moon shine so bright on us?” Achilles asked.

 

“The goddess Artemis must be making the hunt easier for your father,” the other figure scowled. He tugged on the reins of his horse and the horse trotted forward faster. Achilles did the same, but he rushed forward, stopping his horse to block the other.

 

“Then this is not right. It’s not right to run away like this,” Achilles decided.

 

In the dappled moonlight, Piper could just make out the other’s face. He was older than Achilles, with a scar running down his cheek. He was built bigger too, almost as big as Tyson, Percy’s cyclops brother.

 

“Don’t be such a coward, Achilles. This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

 

“I wanted a choice, Ajax,” Achilles frowned. “Not to run away and avoid confrontation. _This_ is cowardice.”

 

“It is not _running away_ ,” Ajax scowled. “It is _delaying_. I want to live my life before I am made another lifeless general in my father’s army. He has already prepared his kingdom for me, he said so himself. He’s found me a wife, he’s prepared the names of my children. And we know what awaits you when you finish training with Chiron and you return to your father.”

 

“A deal with the Spartans would be nothing but beneficial for Thessaly,” Achilles said, lifting his chin. “If I am chosen, the joining of our kingdoms would provide security, stability…”

 

Ajax snorted. “You may lie to others, Achilles, but you cannot lie to me. I know you. The beauty of Helen of Sparta does nothing for you.”

 

“You don’t know that.”

 

“That party a month ago. Every eye, man and woman, was on her. And you couldn’t care less. Laughing and carrying on with your --”

 

“Enough,” Achilles demanded. He led his horse out of Ajax’s path. “Leave, if you want to. But if I am to determine my fate it will not be by running away from it. Fate will only find you faster down that road, Ajax,” he looked down the orchard, leading to the forest. “It loves a good chase.”

 

Ajax scowled, spat at Achilles’ feet, and continued down the path. Achilles watched him leave until he disappeared into the tree-line of the forest, and when he turned his horse around to return home, Lady Hestia, as a woman now, stood in his way.

 

“A wise choice,” she said.

 

“He will return,” Achilles said, solemn. “His destiny lies in training with Chiron, and with the Great War in the future. As does mine,” he added.

 

“Do you still believe you can change your fate?” she asked.

 

Achilles lifted his chin. For a moment, he looked every bit the legendary hero, bathed in moonlight, young and spirited. “The Fates are ancient and restless. And they love a challenge. Who am I, but the one to give it to them?”

 

Piper watched Achilles head back to his house, Lady Hestia holding the reins of his horse, before the night fell completely and everything was dark again -- and she was back in the Aphrodite cabin.

 

She took a moment to catch her breath. She backed up towards the nearest bed, leaning against it and resting there. Hestia joined her, inching slowly backwards to the bed, both of them further away from the fire.

 

“I will show you glimpses like this until your sight clears,” Hestia said, sounding tired. “Fire brings warmth and life, but in moonlight…all things are revealed.”

 

Piper’s throat felt dry, so her voice croaked as she spoke. “Thank you, Lady Hestia.”

 

Hestia just nodded. But she didn’t leave just yet. The same sad expression was back on her face as the goddess hugged her knees to her chest. Sad, but _stubborn_ , as if not yet willing to accept the gloomy future that was coming.

 

“I’m sorry,” Piper said softly. “About your friend.”

 

Hestia sighed, closing her eyes. “I, too, am sorry…about yours.”

 

And as soon as Piper blinked, the goddess was gone. And so was the fire. All that was left was a wisp of smoke.

 

Then there were faint door slams in the distance. Out among the other cabins. Footsteps, too, people rushing about. Through the windows, she could see the dawn coming. The sky a very light purple, a line of orange just beyond the trees. The sounds of people waking were getting closer, and closer, more frantic.

 

Piper scrambled to get up from her spot on the floor, rushing to the door to step outside. As soon as she opened it, Leo was there, and Cecil Markowitz was there, still in his pyjamas, and Clovis too, and Mags. Mags’ eyes were watery, like she was fighting back tears.

 

“What?” Piper remarked. “What’s happened?”

 

“ _A-Alex and Riley_ ,” Cecil stammered, pointing a finger behind him. “They -- they -- _Gods_ , they drugged the entire cabin and then drugged the harpies --”

 

“They’re not _drugged_ , Cecil,” Leo said, trying to calm him but also a little rattled himself. “They’re just asleep. But they also stole a Delphi Strawberry Service truck. I’m still tracking them, they’re on the move, on the 278 going past Jersey --"

 

Clovis’ voice was more calm, just disappointed. “Last night, Riley came to our cabin to ask for some sleeping potion, said he needed a higher concentration for Alex May because of her physical condition, but I didn’t even think they’d --”

 

“They _left_.” Tears fell down Mags’ cheeks, but her voice shook with anger. “That _son of a bitch_ left. And he’s taken Alex.” She leaned her arm against the porch of the Aphrodite cabin, wiping her eyes furiously with her hand. “It’s what he’s been planning to do all along."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so …… that happened
> 
> stay tuned for more chapters! the mystery continues, but don’t worry, some answers will be coming to light soon too!


	16. Three Forty-Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where it's just a drive.

**RILEY.**

 

The roads were clearer than they should have been. 

 

Riley couldn’t tell if that was all part of the plan, or if it was just pure coincidence. Nothing stopped him as he drove down the highway, cruising through cities and suburbs until they were finally hitting the open road. Trees, mountains, fields -- all dark and gloomy in the middle of the night. 

 

He looked to his right. Alex was still dozing off. 

 

His phone was connected to the car’s audio system. The Delphi Strawberry Service truck he stole was an old one, but he had the right cable for a cigarette lighter socket. Trying to imagine anyone at ‘Camp Pristine Demigods’ _smoking_ was a sight. 

 

He had on a mellow playlist, songs with enough beat to keep him awake but not too loud so it didn’t stun him out of the stillness of the night. 

 

The next song was  _ Sunflower _ . Riley squirmed in his seat. He picked up his phone to go to the next song.  _ Bring It On Home To Me _ , by Sam Cooke. 

 

Good enough, if not a little ironic. 

 

He tried not to think of Mags’ face. When the effects of the sleeping potion took over her, he was surprised at how relaxed her face looked. The knot on her brow was gone. He had to wait fifteen minutes to make sure the potion would stay, and she didn’t shift in bed one bit. Mags hadn’t had such a good night’s sleep in months. If it weren’t for the circumstances, he would’ve said  _ ah, she deserved it _ . 

 

Saying that now just felt wrong. 

 

“No, it’s fine,” he muttered, arguing with himself. “This is the plan. Everything’s going to work out.” Riley looked at the dashboard of the car. He’d been unsure if there was a tracking device or something in it, but it was better to be safe than sorry. He’d change cars in the next town -- 

 

“ _...the fool…” _ Alex whispered. 

 

He nearly jumped out of his skin. 

 

He looked at her again. Riley held his breath, turning his attention back to the road, but lowering the volume of his music and keeping even his breathing quiet in case she would say something more important.  _ The fool?  _ Which fool? Why are they a fool? But after five minutes of total silence in the car, with nothing but the rush of the wind outside and the sound of the wheels running along the gravel, he finally breathed again and, level by level, he brought up the music once more.

 

Over the years he’d figured out the telltale signs of Alex when she was dreaming versus when she was  _ dreaming _ . And right now, it was the latter. 

 

He’d been told never to interfere her when she was dreaming. To pay attention, yes, and to take note of anything that might be relevant -- but no interference. And to not let anyone else interfere with it either. The hardest ones to deal with were the nightmares, when she’d be crying in her sleep.

 

If they’d stayed at camp any longer, Alex would have sought Clovis’ help and if anyone got into her head…well, that was never allowed.

 

Why did he still follow these stupid rules anyway? Riley hated himself for all the times he let the rules get the better of him, letting Alex cry or shake with fear while he forced himself to follow instructions he never thought were right in the first place. He’d only started breaking the rules once they’d left, once Mags talked sense into him. 

 

And now here he was, following the old plan, with no Mags, and a dreaming Alex.

 

_ The fool _ ...

 

Memories flashed in his mind: a conversation, the cold sword in his hands,  _ instructions _ , so many of them -- and he  _ hated _ instructions -- and then Mags. Always Mags. Always the long blonde hair, the varying shades of blonde she’d dyed it over the years. The one time she accidentally bought a ginger hair dye. And she still looked like the prettiest girl he knew. Always with the solutions, always the one with the level head, the one who waited and pounced at the right time. Always the smarter, the faster. Always the love of his life -- if he allowed himself to be mushy like that. She’d slap him for saying something so cheesy. 

 

She might resort to something more painful if she ever caught him. Riley had no doubt that she would, or she would at least  _ try _ . Now that she had a whole camp of demigods to back her up, nothing would stop Mags. 

 

But it was no longer her fight. She just had to see that.

 

Riley gripped and re-gripped his hands on the steering wheel. He shook his head to keep himself awake. 

 

The clock on the dashboard said [03:45]. He and Alex would be having breakfast in Washington soon. He would keep up the ruse long enough, but as soon as she suspected, of course, he’d tell her the truth. As long as he had his coffee first.

 

“Almost there,” he whispered to himself. “Almost there.” He rubbed his chest, that area over his heart, feeling it ache slightly.

 

Everything would be revealed soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A super short chapter just to tide you by! I’m trying to figure out how to unfold this part of the story since it’s quite a delicate one. But I can defs promise that Mags will play a larger part now -- she’s been in the sidelines for a while, slowly moving her way to the spotlight, so now we’ll see her begin to shine!
> 
> Part of the shortness of this chapter is also because I don’t really want to give Riley too much of a spotlight in terms of POV, but because Alex is sleeping in this chapter, I thought it’d be a cool instance of a rare POV. It’s hard to write a character who technically knows exactly what’s going on, because I can’t reveal everything even if it’s his thoughts rip
> 
> I’ll try to write a new chapter before the end of the week, as long as uni allows me some time and energy to spare :(
> 
> Hope everyone’s doing well! Thank you, as usual, for reading!


	17. Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where the truth begins.

All Piper could think about was Alex May.

 

Was she okay with Riley? Did she have any clue? From the look of the Hermes cabin, they’d left in a rush. Alex had left behind one of her hoodies, the red one that she liked to pair with her blue puff jacket, making her shoulders look wider than they really were, so she looked like an over-stuffed gorilla. During the investigation, Piper had helped pick up the ‘evidence’. She didn’t realise she was still holding the hoodie even as they moved on to the next part of the investigation: _interrogation_.

 

Chiron had given Issa full control over the interrogation, as long as other demigods were there to witness it. So many things had gone out of control in such a short span of time that Piper couldn’t blame him for wanting to _let go_ a little bit. The camp was already in full battle-mode, getting ready for whatever strike may come from the mortals or the monsters. Taki was working with something Leo had made, his sole task being to keep track of Riley and Alex’s whereabouts. The truck had stopped somewhere in Newark, but with a few satyrs in the area, he was zeroing in on their last known location. Leo had communicated with Camp Jupiter, and with Harley, he’d done his best to redact the locations of the two Camps from the Internet -- but they could only do so much.

 

She’d never seen Harley so stony-faced. When she’d asked him how he was doing, he just shrugged it off. Said he was okay. But she could tell -- he felt betrayed, just like the entire camp did. No one liked the mortals anymore. That was why they had to have Mags locked in the Big House -- the nasty (and _hurt_ ) looks from the campers were getting too much. Once word got out that Riley’s plan all along had been to get information on Camp Halfblood and then leave with Alex -- everyone assumed Mags was supposed to leave too, but had been left behind for some unknown reason.

 

Rumours were abound. Maybe she was left behind because Riley thought she’d be seen as innocent by everyone else, allowing her to get even more information from the camps. Maybe she was some ticking time-bomb that was about to go off. Maybe she was a monster in disguise. Either way, no one wanted her around.

 

Piper didn’t want to believe any of it. Mags was her _friend_.

 

But even then -- in the room with Issa and Mags and Nico, Piper knew who she was scared of most.

 

Mags had dark-rims under her eyes. Her blonde hair was messy, falling in front of her face since Issa had insisted her hands be tied behind the chair she sat on. She looked murderous.

 

Piper held Alex’s hoodie tighter in her hands.

 

“You done?” Mags snapped, eyeing Issa.

 

“Got somewhere you need to be, mortal?” The Amazon hissed.

 

“Yeah. I _do_ , actually. There’s a Bad Guy Convention at Coney Island, I wouldn’t want to miss Lex Luthor’s speech on _How to --_ "

 

Issa growled, her hand clenching into a fist. She looked like she was going to strike Mags across the face. Piper stepped forward -- but the Amazon put her hand up to stop her.

 

“Mags, just cooperate,” Piper said, trying to be as placatory as possible.

 

“I _am_ ,” Mags frowned.

 

“She’s _not_ \--” Issa protested.

 

“Okay, stop.” Piper put both her hands up. The two women looked to her. “Mags, just start all over again. And we’ll all listen. Maybe we can take off the ropes --”

 

Issa shook her head. “Not an option.”

 

“ _Where_ is she going to go?” Nico asked, rolling his eyes. “ _What_ is she going to do?”

 

“We underestimated the other two,” Issa pointed out.

 

Nico sighed, running a hand through his hair. He looked at Piper with an _‘I got nothing’_ look. Piper just gave him a tired smile.

 

“Mags, if you don’t mind…” Piper gestured for her to speak.

 

Mags sighed. She gave Issa a dead look before making a point to speak only to Nico and Piper. “The three of us got into a fight last night. We were fighting about what Alex was going to do. Riley and I tried to talk, but I didn’t want to listen and he didn’t want to listen either so…we took some time off. I saw them at dinner. I saw them go into the Hermes cabin after the campfire,” she said, carefully. “I saw Alex drink something before bed. It looked like a vial or potion-bottle or something. And then Riley said good-night to me. I didn’t see him. Then I fell asleep.”

 

Piper nodded seriously. “And that’s the weird part.”

 

“Why is that weird?” Nico asked.

 

“Mags takes a long time to sleep,” Piper explained. “When she _is_ asleep, even a stampede couldn’t wake her up. Right?” Mags shrugged in response. “But…” Piper continued, “she always takes a while to actually fall asleep.”

 

“Sound observation,” Mags nodded. Then she had to smile. “Were you watching us while we slept? Very stalker-y of you.”

 

Piper side-eyed Mags. Mags winked at her. Issa snapped her fingers.

 

“Next part of the story,” the Amazon said. “The male mortal and the descendant sneak away in the dead of the night. Using the diffuser.” Issa took an item from Chiron’s desk and lifted it up to show everybody, like they were in a court-room or something. “This diffuser made the entire cabin fall into a deep sleep. A similar object was also used to lull the defensive harpies to sleep. The delivery truck was taken. Some supplies were taken. Any other changes to the camp?”

 

“None,” Nico answered.

 

“So. What do we have? We have three mortals brought into the camp, learning about the camp’s defensive capabilities and possible weaknesses. One of them, a powerful terminator made to destroy everything in her path when unleashed,” Issa ticked off the list on her fingers, “another, a young man clearly trained in deceptive arts if he is able to fool the entire camp into thinking he is a simpleton -- while also being the obvious mastermind of the whole operation. Which leaves… _you_ ,” Issa glanced at Mags. “What’s your role in all this?”

 

“I wouldn’t really call Riley the mastermind of anything,” Mags frowned. “Sure, he drugged Alex, possibly led mortals to our location, escaped camp, and broke my heart but -- that’s just luck and coincidence.”

 

“If he’s not the mastermind,” Piper asked, “then who is?”

 

Mags took a while to respond. Piper waited, almost impatiently. This was it. This was the moment where she would finally learn everything. Someone’s history was theirs to share only if they wanted to, but as much as people liked to profess the importance of the _future_ \-- there was still something to be learned from the past. The past created the present, after all.

 

So what created Mags and Riley?

 

Mags lifted her hand and looked straight at Piper.

 

“You never knew our surnames, right?” she asked.

 

Piper just nodded.

 

“Well…” Mags sat up straight in her chair, lifting her head high. “My full name is Margaret Pham-Blumenthal.”

 

Mags paused, as if waiting to see who would react with something. And, to everyone’s surprise, it was Issa.

 

“Wait. _Blumenthal_. As in the German car manufacturer, the one with a rose insignia?” Issa asked, baffled.

 

“Yup,” Mags shrugged.

 

“No, no, wait --” Piper’s eyebrows rose, “the _rose cars_?”

 

Mags sighed. “ _Yeah_.”

 

“My dad’s last movie had a contract with Blumenthal to use their prototypes for _Man Within Time_ \--"

 

Then it was Nico’s turn. “Hold on. Your family is the one who created the limited edition rose-gold convertible? The first fully-automated, voice-control, no-key, hands-free --”

 

“I think we get it, di Angelo,” Issa rolled her eyes.

 

He held his hands up in surrender.

 

The first thing Piper wanted to say was: _you’re rich! Why were you staying in some backwater apartment in Seattle when you could’ve been living in a penthouse getting room service every night? Why did we have to pool together money to buy Chinese take-out?_

But that was just instinct. Experience told her -- rich girls from popular families didn’t always want that life. Instead, she asked:

 

“How’d you get caught up in all this, then? With Riley? How -- how does he come into it?”

 

Mags paused again, struggling with her words. “Just…just give me a minute. I want to say the right thing.”

 

_Mags Pham-Blumenthal_. There was no way Piper could have known. The pictures at their apartment didn’t have captions, no one had high-school diplomas on the wall, or anything that identified their names. Maybe the trophies had something on them, but Piper couldn’t remember. She usually would have read something like that, gathered as much information as she could. Maybe Mags and Riley had painted over their names on the trophies. They didn’t even have their names on the buzzer in the building’s foyer. Come to think of it, all they had were other people’s names. All the DVDs in the shelves, the records, the CDs, the posters. Musicians, actors, movies. It was like they wanted to forget where they came from.

 

“Riley is…I met him at this support group his family was running. His adoptive family,” she added, her voice quieter. “He and his brother were taken in by Scott, who we all call his grandfather. Scott Kings. Riley Kings.”

 

There was silence from Issa and Nico. More silence then there was for Mags’ surname. Mags actually looked a little disappointed.

 

“Guys. The Kings? Real-life Stark family? Marvel-Stark, not Game of Thrones-Stark?”

 

Silence again.

 

“You guys _really_ need a mortal newspaper around here --”

 

“Wait,” Piper said, a flicker of recognition in her eyes. The note about the _newspaper_ struck her memory. “…Kings _…_ ”

 

The _Kings_. Jesus Christ. Holy Hera. “No way…” she found herself saying.

 

“Piper --” Nico was calling her name. “Can you, uh, share with the class, please? Who are the Kings? _Kingses_ …?”

 

“The Kings…” Piper gulped, swallowing nothing but spit. Her mouth felt so dry, she walked over to the other side of the room, to the jug of water and the glasses Chiron always kept handy. She poured everyone a glass.

 

“Kings is the family name of a company called Kingshield Enterprises. I -- I read about them at uni. They mainly deal with reconstructing towns and homes after natural disasters. They basically rebuilt Tennessee after the wildfires in 2016. But they also have a science division -- they had war contracts --"

 

“ _Kingshield._ Oh, they made those new phones last year. The TV, computer and phone set that was like one big connected screen and everything was a touchscreen?” Nico asked, more excited about technology that she’d ever heard him.

 

“ _Yes_ ,” Piper nodded, “But they’ve also been trying to make sustainable energy for a while now, and part of our assignment was trying to understand how private companies contribute to ecological --"

 

“ _Okay_ , everyone --” Issa brought them all back to the middle of the room, bringing their tech talk to a halt. “Kings…” Issa hummed. “It’s very on-the-nose. And to call themselves after a ‘ _shield_ ’…? It’s not very subtle. But the name is familiar now. I’m certain we had dealings with them at Amazon Headquarters.”

 

Though a little annoyed at being interrupted, Piper was surprised at the sudden change in Issa’s tone. Gone was the scary interrogator and in its place was a person just as curious as they were, joining in the brainstorming.

 

“They’re an old family,” Mags explained. “Scott came from Camp Jupiter, I think most of his family did, they’re a whole line of legacies -- but Scott’s only son died ages ago. He adopted Riley and his brother when they were super young.”

 

The room was silent. Everyone waited for Mags to continue.

 

Mags was chewing on her lip, thinking of a way to start. A second later, Issa came up to her, her face stony and scrutinising. Mags leaned away, not knowing what the Amazon would do --- but all she did was untie the ropes from Mags’ hands. Mags immediately brought them forward, massaging her wrists and finally resting after hours of sitting and being tied.

 

“Talk,” Issa said seriously. “And we must know everything if you want us to believe you.”

 

Issa turned to look back at Nico and Piper, seeing if they would agree. The two demigods nodded.

 

Piper braced herself for what she would hear.

 


	18. Us, The Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one with the past.

**MAGS.**

 

She wouldn’t tell them everything. As much as she wanted Issa the Crazy Amazon to finally be on her side, and as much as she wanted Piper to _stay_ on her side, she couldn’t tell them everything. Most of it was her life, most of it was her relationship with Riley, and then finding Alex -- and you couldn’t tell your secrets like that. Not even if the fate of the world counted on it. She didn’t have to spill her secrets. She was _owed_ that much.

 

Even if she _was_ getting tired of lying.

 

Spilling their surnames had to be enough. That was always something people liked to catch on. People made their assumptions, thought they were rich brats, and then left them alone. _Underestimated_ them.

 

But Mags thought, somehow, this probably wouldn’t _fly_ with the demigods.

 

She’d have to be careful with what she said.

 

“We met at group therapy. It was a small thing Kingshield wanted to do. Community outreach, mental health awareness. _Etcetera_ ,” she shrugged. Mags pressed her lips to a thin line. “I don’t know how much you guys know about what happened in Manhattan a couple of years ago…monsters attacked the place. The entire island, as far as I know.”

 

The look on Issa’s face told her what she needed to know. Though she was the oldest and most ‘seasoned’ warrior, her expressions betrayed her more than she probably liked. Piper and Nico, so far, were the hardest people for Mags to read. Piper nodded. Nico didn’t respond at all. Their reactions told Mags everything she needed to know: Piper just knew about it, but Nico had been _there_.

 

“Lots of people were asleep. But because the Kingshield building…it’s basically run by demigods and legacies. They had a magic around it that was enough to prevent everyone from sleeping. But…it might have been better if they were asleep. Because we were awake, the monsters attacked us. They came from the Lincoln Tunnel. Riley and his family were there. My family was there -- Kingshield sponsored my last martial arts tournament. It was just meant to be…a regular meeting. I didn’t even meet Scott, we only met with low tier people. But…that day, everyone was on the same boat.”

 

She paused. Mags rubbed her wrists again. She was happy to have the restraints off, but now she had nothing to do with her hands. She kept them flat on her lap, stretching out her fingers.

 

“My mom died. Riley’s brother died. We both attended therapy. He asked me out. I said yes. I added ‘monster-hunting’ to my repertoire,” she said matter-of-factly.

 

This time, she left a definite silence which left the three demigods confused.

 

“That’s it?” Nico asked.

 

“That’s not it,” Piper furrowed her eyebrows. “How did you meet Alex?”

 

“Not in therapy,” Mags answered. “We found her fending off monsters by herself. Asked her to join. She said yes. Didn’t know anything about the Achilles thing, we thought she was just normal like us.”

 

“How did the training happen?”

 

“Same thing as you guys, I guess. After-school. Summer holidays. Monster-hunting course at the YMCA.”

 

Piper’s jaw clenched. “And Seattle?”

 

“We wanted to study. Riley did a short cooking course. I finished my science degree. Alex…still hasn’t finished hers.”

 

“And Riley’s plan? You mentioned last night that this was what he’d been planning all along.”

 

_Shit, true_. Mags thought quickly.

 

“One of the things we always dreamed of doing was finding Camp Half-blood,” she said smoothly. “We knew Camp Jupiter but Scott forbade us from ever going there, not that we’d ever be allowed anyway. Riley wanted to find Camp Half-blood himself, prove that he was smarter than Scott. I think…I think that’s all he wanted to do. And he brought Alex because…well, because of the Achilles thing I guess.”

 

“And he left _you_?” Issa asked, not even trying to hide the insulting tone.

 

Mags leaned back in her chair, the picture of calm. “Well if he’d brought me, then we wouldn’t be having this fun conversation, huh?”

 

Another silence. Mags focused her all her attention on Issa. _I dare you_ , her eyes said.

 

The Amazon was coming up to boiling point again. Mags found it hard to stop herself from revealing the _smallest_ smirk -- but it was enough to have Issa marching over and putting her face up to hers again.

 

“You’re making fun of us. _Tell us the truth_ \--”

 

“I am. I _am_!” Mags exclaimed. “Put me up to Wonder Woman’s lasso or whatever, but I’m no liar.”

 

“No, but you’re smart,” Piper said coolly. “You’re not telling us everything.”

 

“As if you would ever tell _us_ everything,” Mags rebutted. “You all know more than you’re letting on. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that shiny bronze-gold thing you brought in --” she said, looking to Nico. “And you’re not telling us everything about what happened in the Underworld with Alex’s grandfather.” Then she faced Issa. “And your thing with the Amazons, you’re hiding something too. I don’t believe for _one second_ that you’re here to just gather information and take Alex. You’re not just out of duty. You’ve got a personal stake too, but you’re not gonna spill that tea, are you?”

 

Finally, it was Piper’s turn. Mags looked straight into Piper’s eyes. Piper McLean, the girl she’d only known by name because Alex couldn’t help but notice her every time during her rehearsals and classes -- even before they found out Piper was a demigod. Piper McLean, who'd surprised her and everyone else, by how kind she actually was behind her tough exterior. Piper, who (Mags just  _knew_ ) cared for Alex as much as Alex cared for her.

 

_‘Piper has the nicest smile, I swear --'_

_‘She’s actually super nice and goes out of her way to help people --'_

_‘She made fun of my spaghetti today but I actually managed to snap back and now we have a thing going on, it’s the weirdest and best thing ever --'_

“And you…” Mags said slowly, narrowing her eyes at Piper. “…well, you’re actually fine.”

 

Piper frowned.

 

**

 

She almost wanted to say _‘you know I can hear you, right?’_ but maybe that was the point. Intimidation tactics. Psychological warfare. Lessons Scott and Kingshield never actually taught but something she picked up along the way. Riley was always the loudest one, the one people listened to, the impulsive and charismatic one. He could smooth-talk the most stingy person into being on his side. That was Riley’s thing. He made everyone feel like he was just another guy, a kind guy.

 

_Fall from grace, the kindly one_.

 

Ah. So that’s what that meant.

 

And even after all she knew, she was still lying to save his ass.

 

And Mags’ deal?

 

She had the good memory. The reflexes. The keen hearing. The three languages under her belt. Vietnamese, German, English. She was working on her Mandarin and Japanese a few weeks ago. She had the patience to think about things. Riley had ideas for plans, but Mags perfected them, down to the very last detail. A ballet dancer. A _wushu_ master, specialising in tiger. When she’d first told Riley that, he didn’t let it go for months. _Mags, the Tigress._ Everywhere and anywhere, he’d find an opportunity to call her ‘Tigress’.

 

Riley had a million names for them. The dynamic duo. Po and Tigress. The Flash and the Green Arrow. Hawkeye and Black Widow. As corny as they were, she could see the similarities. That was what life always felt like for her anyway -- _too insane to be real._ First, she was the rich girl, then she was the super spy thinking she was a superhero so. She could never escape silly names and unnecessary labels.

 

Now, she was the criminal.

 

“I know what it sounds like, but she’s just acting,” she could hear Piper say from the other room. “It’s all a front. She’s as in the dark as we are.”

 

“Perhaps you’re just too close to the situation, McLean,” came Issa’s voice.

 

_Bitch_ , Mags thought.

 

“Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean what I have to say isn’t important. I know her well enough that --”

 

“You’ve known them for a _week_ \--”

 

“That’s more than anyone can say about you,” Piper snapped. “You’ve never seen Alex in action, you haven’t seen the way Mags works, the way she fights --"

 

“I don’t _need_ to know. All I need to know is the truth. And your friend isn’t giving it. And that makes her useless.” There was a pause, and then it was Issa’s voice again: “If you could just _persuade_ her to tell the truth…”

 

“ _Not_ happening,” Piper snapped.

 

Nico sighed. Mags noticed he always took the neutral side. “What do you want to do?”

 

“Well, if we can’t get her to talk,” Issa grumbled. “Then keep her locked up. Lock her up in the attic.”

 

And they did just that.

 

They moved her after the conversation in the other room, and Mags stayed silent as Nico shadow-travelled the interrogation party to the attic. They left her one plate of the never-ending food, and a cup of never-ending drink. They left her untied.

 

The attic of the Big House was interesting, but it wasn’t interesting enough to have her distracted from trying to find a way out. She’d heard all she needed from the demigods. They couldn’t help her anymore. Something much bigger than her was happening and since she played her role so well, now they believed she actually was useless. Issa thought she was complicit in Riley’s crime, and Piper thought she was innocent and didn’t know any better. It was the best position to be in.

 

“ _Get yourself underestimated_ ,” she heard Scott’s voice in her head. “Then you’ll be able to do anything.”

 

She explored every corner of the room and stepped on every creaky floorboard, trying to pry loose ones from the ground. She did the same to the roof, trying to see if there were any loose parts to it that she could burst out of. But whether by magic or by sturdy carpentry, the attic was a fortress.

 

Eventually, though, she would escape. That was her version of hope. She didn’t like to believe in super-positive things, but she believed in _moving on_. No one was destined to stay in just one place all their life. She would get out. And then she would kill Riley for doing this to her.

 

Seeing a white marble bust on a shelf, Mags almost thought to use it as a dummy to kick and punch -- even if her bones would break against the hard stone. _Anything_ to let out her frustration.

 

“Son of a bitch -- _son_ of a _bitch_ \--” she mumbled to herself. Mags tossed aside old garments from a box, trying to find a weapon or something. “I’m going to kill you, Riley, I’m going to kill you if it’s the last thing I do --”

 

“Relationship problems?”

 

Mags spun around, wide-eyed. Piper was sitting by the window-ledge, half a foot in a shadow portal before taking her foot out completely.

 

“I don’t like to play this card, but…” Piper gave a half-hearted thumbs-up. “You know I’m the daughter of Aphrodite.”

 

Mags offered a grimace. “I’m good, thanks.”

 

“Any time.”

 

Mags stared at her for a beat, wondering if Piper was going to do anything or say anything more. When nothing else happened, she resumed her investigation of the attic. Except now it wasn’t so much as investigation than a frantic search for an answer.

 

“I’m defending you, you know,” Piper eventually said.

 

“I know,” Mags shrugged, not looking her direction. She took out a box of spoons, sifting through them with her fingers.

 

“They say they’re close to finding Alex and Riley.”

 

Mags frowned, her eyes frozen on a random spot on the floor -- before resuming her spoon investigation. “Good.”

 

“The satyrs are closing in on their location. They found the new car they were using. Alex has a celestial bronze bracelet that Harley gave her as a gift. So they ended up using that. Harley was a little embarrassed about it.”

 

“Alex tends to have that effect on people.”

 

“She makes them feel embarrassed?”

 

Mags looked directly at Piper. “She makes them like her.”

 

Piper held her gaze, and then dropped it. It was back to business a moment later. “Do you want to know where they are?” Piper asked.

 

“DC,” Mags frowned. “They were always heading to DC.”

 

“Why there?”

 

“Kingshield HQ. It used to be Manhattan, but they moved there.”

 

“We…probably could have used that a while ago.”

 

“What? The information?” Mags glanced at Piper, annoyed. “You were always going to find out anyway. I don’t see why I should help you catch them.”

 

“No, you’re right, you shouldn’t,” Piper said calmly. “And you wouldn’t. Because you want to catch them first.”

 

Mags stopped. She looked down at the box of spoons, suddenly mad at how useless it all was. How annoying this disorganization was. Why didn’t Chiron have a better archiving system than this? There could have been a dozen cursed items in here and no one would know. After hundreds of years, you’d think they would’ve tidied it up --

 

“I can’t imagine how you must be feeling,” Piper continued carefully. “I know you guys were really close and…I know how betrayal feels. And losing someone too. You didn’t say much about the plan, but I kinda figured that this wasn’t part of it. You were meant to go with them. So…I’m sorry you were left behind.”

 

Mags dropped the box of spoons loudly on the table. “Who needs charmspeak when you’re a good bullshitter?”

 

There was a second of quiet from Piper, and then a scoff, and Mags saw her moving to the door from the corner of her eye. Instantly, she regretted her words.

 

“Piper, wait -- I’m sorry --” she said quickly, sighing at herself as she blocked Piper’s way. “I’m mad. You’re right. I’m _mad_. And I’m hurt.”

 

Piper was tense when Mags blocked her, but Mags saw her start to relax a little, even if she was still suspicious. “I’m sorry. Actually sorry,” Mags added, meaning every word. “Forgetting everything else about this situation…I feel like if we met any other way, we would’ve been really good friends.”

 

“We are good friends,” Piper frowned.

 

Mags nodded, stepping to the side to let Piper pass. But the demigod didn’t move.

 

“…it’d be so easy to just get what I want, you know?” Piper said, her voice low, a warning. “I _could_ just use charmspeak. I’d know everything about you. Everything you wanted to forget, everything you promised you would never say to another soul. Everything about you and Riley. But I’m not going to do that. That was my promise to myself. And -- like I said, you’re my friend.”

 

Mags couldn’t help a small gulp in her throat.

 

“I believe you’ll tell me what I need to know. When you feel it’s the right time.” Piper moved past Mags, heading to the exit of the attic. The door opened easily for her, but Mags made no move to try and escape. “I just hope the right time is soon. Before we run out of time completely.”

 

Mags nodded once more, but said nothing else as Piper finally left her to her imprisonment once more.

 

From here, she could no longer eavesdrop on their conversations.

 

Her imprisonment in the attic lasted well into the night. At least from here, she still had a great view of the sunset through the windows. A satyr came up just before dinner with a cot, linen, a pillow and blankets. But she never got to use them. Not when there was the perfect window-ledge, with the wood probably softened from years of people sitting right where she was -- hoping the horizon would swallow her and make her disappear like the sun. It was too easy to fall into a deep sleep there, after all the lies, the heartbreak, the anger, the exhaustion…and soon enough, she found herself _remembering_ as well.

 

** 

 

**THE PAST.**

 

A video on a phone. Probably the iPhone 5. Something that old, but still new.

 

Eighteen years old then, Mags was watching Riley and Davey on the small screen, except the top-half of their faces were covered by leather masks. They looked like they had put together costumes from different outfits. Riley had the mask, padding on his chest, and even a cape. He wore green, and Davey wore white. 

 

_“July twenty-first! 2010!”_ young Riley whispered loudly into the camera.

 

The camera shook as the cameraman, Davey, laughed. _“No, no, no, dude, shh --_ ” said Riley, barely controlling his own laughter, “ _shut up, you gotta be quiet -- you know what we’re dealing with here, right?”_

 

_“Freakin’ MONSTERS, man --_ ”

 

Riley beamed, bringing his face up to the camera. “ _Freakin’ MONSTERS!”_

Mags turned to look at the present-Riley, now nineteen -- and turning twenty soon, from the amount of times he’d shared it with everyone else in the cafeteria. His face was more defined now, and was also sporting a bandage on his cheek from when she grazed him with a flail. She _knew_ that wasn’t her weapon, but Scott still insisted she try it out and Riley was taunting her with it anyway. Two months of being here, and she was only just starting to actually like him.

 

She’d told him to get the bandage re-done, but when the video came up in their conversation, it seemed foolish to make him go then. They’d dropped everything to watch it. They’d even sat down in the corridor.

 

“You guys were cute,” she commented lightly, tossing him a short smile.

 

“Still am,” Riley chuckled.

 

“How old were you here?”

 

“Seventeen, maybe? And Davey was fifteen or sixteen, can’t remember --”

 

They brought their attention back to the video. They each held up one side of the phone. Mags tapped her fingers against Riley’s.

 

The video continued.

_“We’re here at Roanoke Park, following some reported disturbances of some real nasty dudes, attacking wildlife, harassing the public --_ ” Davey continued. “ _So you know what that means!”_

 

“ _It’s Ace and Anchor, coming to_ _MESS YOU UP!_ ”

The boys’ laughter was cut off by Davey coughing. The camera shook around, losing focus, but Mags could see video-Riley approaching the person behind it.

 

“ _Whoa, hey, you okay?_ ” Mags heard video-Riley ask. “ _Did you take your meds, today? The doctor said_ \--”

 

“ _Nah, man, screw the doctor, come on --_ ”

 

The camera went ahead to the edge of the rooftop, and video-Riley jogged forward to be in the centre of the scene again. Then the two boys crouched to the ground, hiding behind the edge of the roof.

 

“ _So tell us what’s down there_ ,” Davey said.

 

“ _Well, if you look over here, Anchor,”_ Riley said, doing his best newscast voice, “ _You’ll see we’ve got some real bazingers here, some real weird folks, it looks like that girl there’s got a tail instead of legs and we ain’t talking about no Ariel here_ \--”

 

The video continued with video-Riley explaining each monster they could see. Though the boys didn’t have any official names for them, Mags could tell what they were dealing with, thanks to Scott’s teachings. Two Scythian dracaenae. One cyclops. She couldn’t tell what they were there for, and it seemed the boys didn’t either. But neither of them appeared to care.

 

He _had_ told her they were being stupid. As special as this video was, it also showed a reckless and shameful time.

 

“You guys just went in for it, huh?” Mags asked, looking next to her at Riley.

 

Riley shrugged.

 

The scene changed. It looked like the camera was propped up somewhere, far away, while it filmed the two boys fighting the monsters.

 

“You don’t have to watch the rest of it,” he said. “We pretty much just fight them, defeat them, we both have a crazy number of injuries…like I said. Stupid.”

 

Riley paused the video, and closed the screen of his phone.

 

“But you still won, didn’t you?” Mags asked, pointing out the obvious. “Stupid, sure. But not entirely useless.”

 

“That’s basically the title of my autobiography,” Riley said, cracking a smile.

 

“Yeah, well…” Mags stood up from the floor. She patted off her jeans. “When you write your monster-hunting biography, be sure to credit me.”

 

She held out her hand to help him up. He took it with a grateful smile and pulled himself up.

 

Mags leaned against the wall, her hands behind her back as she looked up at him. For a second they just looked at each other. Riley’s smile, however annoying at times, always did start butterflies in her stomach.

 

“All right, newbie,” Riley chuckled. “Making your mark. I respect that. But hey, listen -- you know what I mean now, right?”

 

“To think before I act? Like I’ve never heard _that_ before.”

 

“Not just that.” Riley stepped closer, covering the distance between them. One other trainee walked down the corridor, passing behind them. Riley lowered his voice. “Scott’s a good teacher. But he’s…a little old-fashioned too. I think we should…be a little more thoughtful about who we’re attacking.”

 

Mags arched an eyebrow. “After everything that’s happened? After Manhattan?”

 

“Especially after Manhattan,” he said seriously. “We still don’t know why they were all there, and if Scott knows, he’s not telling us --”

 

Mags frowned, taking a step back. “Yeah, but trying to be think about who I’m attacking isn’t why I’m here. I’m here to just _attack_. So _thanks_ for the pep-talk, but -- I’m good. I think I’m old enough to make up my own mind now.”

 

She turned and walked away without another word. But a few steps forward, she hesitated and glanced backwards. “I’m…sorry about your brother. Thank you for showing me the video.”

 

“It’s fine,” Riley said, quiet. “Just…think about what I said, at least. And tomorrow, we’re going out for that field trip thing. So read the files in your room.”

 

“You mean the one about the Alex person?” Mags shrugged, nonchalant. She turned around completely, crossing her arms as she did. It seemed the conversation was not over yet. “Already read it.”

 

“If you don’t feel comfortable going on such a big mission so soon...”

 

“It’s just…information-gathering, isn’t it? _Recon_?” she rolled her eyes. “The whole squadron gets together, armed with the latest gear, ready for anything -- but given what you’ve said about tomorrow, I think I can handle sitting in a car and watching some girl walk into a high-school and then walk out again.”

 

“Now it sounds like you didn’t read it at _all_.”

 

Mags didn’t bother responding. Instead, she just rolled her eyes.

 

“This _Alex person_ could be the key to everything. Scott’s been looking for her for years,” Riley stated. “We can’t align ourselves with the gods, or the monsters, _or_ the demigods so --”

 

“The perfect way of levelling the playing field,” Mags repeated, using Scott’s exact words from the conversation she’d overheard between him and Riley. Riley narrowed his eyes, suspicious, but didn’t say anything about it. “What makes you so sure she’s gonna wanna play?” she asked.

 

Riley shrugged. “Not my business. Scott just says it’s all gonna be set up. All we need to do is make one hell of a winning team.”

 

**

 

**THE PRESENT.**

 

Mags gasped as she woke up.

 

Jolted from her sleep, she scrambled around and fell off the window-bench as she tried to orient herself.

_Alex, it was always about Alex._

_The winning team._

_All set up._

 

Picking herself up from the floor, she rushed towards the door, preparing to crash through it if she needed to -- but to her surprise, the door swung open when she turned the knob.

 

Mags ran down the stairs, already memorising the layout of the Big House from the few times she’d been marched around, first as a guest then as a prisoner. She finally found the people she’d been looking for, not in Chiron’s office, but in the back of the house, in a small sun-room.

 

Taki stood with Piper, Chiron, Issa, and Nico. He was in the middle of updating the room on Alex and Riley’s whereabouts:

 

“Mill is the satyr set up in DC, and he Iris-Messaged me just fifteen minutes ago telling us that Alex and Riley had stopped at some shopping complex in the parking lot --"

 

“ _I’m sorry_ \--” Mags interrupted, bursting into the room.

 

Issa leapt into action, reaching her in one stride and holding her by her collar in case she tried anything. Mags didn’t even try to fight back. She just held up her hands in a surrender and looked straight at Piper.

 

“I’m going to tell you everything. I’ll tell you _everything_. About us, about Alex and Riley and --” Mags sighed sharply. “And about Scott. Kingshield. But I have a question for you --”

 

“What?” Piper immediately said, the anticipation rising in the room.

 

“How powerful is the Athena Parthenos? Do you think it’ll be able to protect you from what’s coming?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are heating up !! writing from Mags’ POV was actually so fun. she has a different way of viewing the world and reacting to things, just as everyone else does. plus, we’ll be seeing who the real villains are soon enough…
> 
> I hope you all are enjoying watching the mystery unfold -- and thank you for reading and sticking by ‘For Only The Buried’!! every review means so much, it’s always nice to hear from everyone and what they’re thinking so far :D 
> 
> let me know if the flashback works! I don’t want to make it too confusing so I signposted with the ‘THE PAST’ and ‘THE PRESENT’. 
> 
> more exciting things to come, so stay tuned and thank you again <3


	19. Mushroom Cloud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Riley shows his true colours.

**Alex.**

 

Alex woke up to the sound of morning traffic and Riley on the phone. 

 

“Yeah, we’re almost there -- we’re just going to stop by someplace, I’m starving,” Riley was saying. He had one hand on the steering wheel, and the other was holding his phone to his ear. Alex stared at it, still half-asleep. 

 

She’d noticed the phone when they left camp, and when they were rushing into the delivery truck. Riley had been texting somebody as she started the car. But she’d been with Riley nearly all night, and she never noticed him taking the time to put in a sim card again. They’d been in such a rush. Maybe he did it while he was talking with Clovis. But no...they weren’t allowed to connect the sim cards on camp grounds  _ at all _ . Alex kept staring at it, trying to find answers. And when she couldn’t, she closed her eyes again. 

 

“--uh,  _ yeah _ , I want to eat again, jeez, can’t I eat?” Riley scoffed into the phone. “Yeah, Alex is here too. She’s asleep, though. What, you want me to say hi? Alex, Jim says hi.”

 

Alex murmured in her sleep. “ _ Hi _ .”

 

_ Jim...who was Jim? _ Alex had a vague recollection of one of Scott’s secretaries. 

 

“Okay, so she’s not asleep.” There was a pause, and some talk from Jim over the phone. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Listen, it’s not my fault I got food poisoning all day yesterday, that was totally unexpected.  _ Yes _ , we used cash at the motel, what am I, an idiot? Don’t worry, I got this. Bye.”

 

She heard the clutter of Riley just throwing his phone into the drink holder. When Alex opened her eyes, she didn’t know where they were, but they were going down some main road, and heading towards what looked like a huge shopping centre. 

 

“So what are we feeling like? Chicken? Burgers? Steaks” Riley asked, turning into the parking lot. 

 

Alex yawned. “Burgers. Is Scott going to mind that we’re late? We already spent a whole day in Philadelphia.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, ya-da, ya-da,” Riley rolled his eyes, speaking in that way that Alex knew meant he was acting calmer than he really felt. There was an air of  _ panic _ around Riley, but she couldn’t tell why. “But, come on. The food poisoning yesterday? And then, this morning, a whole horde of cows just walking onto the highway like that?” he shrugged, choosing a space close to the entrance. “Where’d they even come from?”

 

Alex just shrugged. Cows were the least of their problems. And Riley  _ had _ been vomiting up a storm yesterday before collapsing into a deep sleep for most of the day and night. She hoped everyone would understand; with ‘everyone’ meaning Mags, Piper, Scott, the Camp, the Amazons, the  _ Gods _ ...who else? Alex was getting a headache just trying to wrap her head around the latest of Riley’s elaborate plans. 

 

This time’s plan was: get to Scott soon, so they could get the answers for Alex’s trial. All the data Scott had collected when they trained, all the research, the reports, those moments when she  _ was _ overpowered by monsters, that showed she could be defeated, and that she didn’t always lose control -- things that could help her prove her case against the Amazons. 

 

She also thought there was some element of a  _ ‘dreaded family reunion’  _ there. The last time Scott and Riley spoke face-to-face, it hadn’t ended nicely. Maybe that was why Riley was taking his time. 

 

Finally, they parked. Alex put her hoodie over her head and smoothed her hair back under it so it wouldn’t fall to her eyes. 

 

She took a second look at the Delphi Strawberry Service vest she’d been using as a blanket/shade. They were still using the truck. Alex patted the dashboard affectionately, thanking the truck for taking them this far, and apologising for stealing it. She clutched the vest like it was a security blanket. Riley would tell her that she shouldn’t wear it in case Camp Halfblood had spies or friends out here. Something in her mind told her to bring it with her anyway. She grabbed the vest, folded it up quickly, and held it tight under her armpit.

 

Riley started walking towards the entrance and Alex rushed to catch up with him. As she did, she bumped shoulders against a woman walking past, her hands full of groceries. The woman looked like every harassed middle-aged woman, possibly a mother, but there was something that struck Alex about her. 

 

“Sorry --” Alex said automatically, but the woman just swept past, the wind blowing her peacock-patterned scarf to Alex’s face. She swatted her hand at the scarf, but when her vision cleared, the woman was gone.

 

The two of them scoffed down burgers in the mall food court. It was a pretty standard mall; Alex didn’t see anything particularly special about it. Just another stop-over on a road-trip. She, Riley, and Mags had been on so many, she was probably an  _ expert _ on malls. The security guards too. One or two were patrolling this area, yawning or just holding their hands by their belts lazily as they walked around. Tazers, not guns. More often than not, the trio had had to steal things or trespass, and Mags always made sure they were at least  _ vigilant _ , if they had to go into public places. If Mags had her way, they’d be eating home-made food and sandwiches for the rest of their lives, but Riley and Alex loved processed food too much. 

 

_ Mags _ . 

 

Alex lowered her burger sadly. “Hey, man, do you think we should call Mags or something?”

 

“Call?” Riley arched an eyebrow. “How are we going to call the camp, you know they don’t allow phones.”

 

“No, I meant, like -- _ Iris Message _ .” Alex lowered her voice to a whisper so the others in the food court wouldn’t hear. Thankfully, it wasn’t so packed, so they had a fair few empty tables around them to separate them from other mallgoer.

 

“Do you have a  _ dogma _ ?”

 

“A  _ drachma _ ?”

 

“Same difference.” Riley sucked the burger sauce from his fingers. 

 

The air of panic was around him again and Alex pulled a face, confused.

 

She tried again. “I don’t have one on me right now, but maybe they have some in the truck.”

 

“Speaking of the truck,” Riley deflected, “we gotta ditch it. After we eat, we’re getting our stuff and finding a new one.”

 

“What? Nah, come on, we’re almost there--”

 

“We’re ditching the truck.”

 

“But we’re  _ so _ close, and I don’t want to break into anyone’s car again, and it’s not like we’re in any trouble,” Alex reasoned. “We only steal cars when we’re in trouble.” Every time they stole someone’s car, she couldn’t help but feel guilty, like she was imposing on someone’s life. “And you said that when we got to Scott’s place, we’d explain everything to --”

 

Riley sighed. “ _ Alex _ …”

 

“But you  _ said _ \--”

 

“ **Alex** ,” Riley snapped. “We’re  _ ditching  _ the  _ truck _ .”

 

His tone surprised her. She fell silent immediately.

 

“And you’re not calling Mags,” he added.

 

Alex huffed. Her burger suddenly felt cold now, and she didn’t want to eat it. “I don’t  _ see _ why we can’t just --”

 

Riley gave her a look. She fell silent again. 

 

She didn’t eat her burger, and she didn’t move at all, while Riley finished eating. They didn’t speak, just sat there, and Alex looked around, counting the minutes until they could leave again. 

 

It was a Saturday so the mall was understandably busy. Little kids were being corralled by their parents. Groups of teenagers hung out at the bigger tables in the food court. All types of shoppers strolled around the place, holding a million bags, or holding nothing at all. Some tourists too; Chinese tourists, by the looks of it. They all wore the same uniform jacket, and some of them had lanyards with their IDs, and cameras too. Maybe they were on their way to DC like she and Riley were. 

 

One of the tourists in the group caught her eye. He was looking straight at her, scratching a long goatee. He jumped around nervously behind another tourist as they queued for donuts. She noticed he was wearing a navy blue jacket, but it didn’t have the stripes or the logo of the tourist group. Alex frowned. Her gaze fell to his feet. 

 

Hooves.

 

Alex’s eyes widened, then she schooled her features immediately, hoping Riley didn’t notice. He was too busy eating. 

 

She looked at the possible-satyr again. They caught each other’s eye. He looked like he was making sure that she was  _ her _ . She held tightly to the vest she’d rolled up, now stuffed under her hoodie like an extra belly.

 

Alex scanned the rest of the floor. She needed a legitimate reason to leave Riley for a while. Her eye fell on a record store, and a sporting goods store. Alex pushed her chair out from under the table. 

 

“Um, where are you going?” Riley asked.

 

“I just wanna look at the records,” she said, with a breezy smile. “I’ll be back in like ten minutes.”

 

“No way, too risky. Sit down,” Riley said, gesturing lightly for her to sit again. 

 

Alex scoffed, incredulous. “You can’t  _ tell _ me what to d --”

 

“ _ Alex _ ...” Riley sighed heavily. She frowned, bristling. This was his  _ guilt-trip _ sigh. This was definitely  _ not _ how she thought Operation Save Alex was going to go.

 

Then his phone rang. The shrill sound made both of them jump and Alex froze where she stood, caught between leaving and going. Riley’s sigh had unsettled her, but now he was glaring, warning her of something if she decided to leave. And now the ominous timing of the phone call....

 

“Sit. Down,” Riley repeated slowly. 

 

Alex’s eyes flashed, and she clenched her fists, but she complied. 

 

Riley answered his phone carefully, wiping his hands on a napkin first before taking the call. Alex watched him. He didn’t say anything, just  _ listened _ , and when she sat still and paid attention to the voice over the phone, she could hear Scott’s voice. 

 

“ _...and tell her what’s going to happen. That should be enough. _ ”

 

Alex’s heart skipped a beat. Her face fell. 

 

Riley gulped, his face otherwise stony and serious. He looked torn, as he always did whenever Scott told him to do something. But this time, Scott’s command won over. “Will do,” he said, before ending the call.

 

She remained standing, holding her chin higher. 

 

“What did Scott say?” she asked, feigning innocence. 

 

Riley’s lips formed a thin line. “I think you heard what he said.”

 

They stared at each other for a beat. She sat down again, frowning, and when she was sure her bottom half was covered by the table, she took out the vest from under her hoodie. She held it in her hands. 

 

“Riley…” She wanted to sound strong. In control. But what came out was just the childish voice of someone who was confused. “What’s going on?”

 

He stared at her again, his eyes holding still, like he was trying to figure out the words to say. Something nice. Something that made sense. And then in a millisecond, the ‘thinking face’ stopped, and he just slumped back in his chair. The chair legs scraped against the floor with the movement, and the loudness of the sound made Alex wince. 

 

“Oh,  _ Jesus _ …” Riley groaned, dragging his hands down his face. “Okay, fine. Okay,  _ might as well _ . Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine…” he murmured.

 

Alex took a shaky breath. While Riley was preoccupied with his face, she hung the vest, logo visible, on the chair next to her. She hoped the satyr saw. 

 

When Riley looked at her again, he saw her fist reaching out to the side, not registering the vest. He instantly put his hands up. “Hey now, I’m not that stupid. I’m not going to try and fight you here.”

 

“Not physically,” Alex frowned. 

 

“Not  _ verbally _ either. Depending on how this goes,” Riley said, scratching his cheek.

 

Annoyed at how casual he was being, Alex banged her fist on the table. It was Riley’s turn to jump at the sound, other shoppers looking at their direction now, and Riley gave a faint, fake chuckle, putting his hand over Alex’s. He patted her fist. 

 

“All right,  _ chill _ , Alex --”

 

“We’re not going to Scott’s to make that file, are we?” she accused. “You just wanted to leave camp, you wanted to take _ me _ and -- and leave --” She stumbled over her own train of thought. “But why would you --? Why would you wanna leave Mags?”

 

“Mags never agreed.” Riley looked at Alex in the eyes for one second, and for the rest, the stared at a spot on the table. “She never liked this part of it, she never liked keeping this away from you. To the point that we just stopped telling her stuff.”

 

Alex waited.

 

“...you remember that day we found you? The giants. The giants in the playground, they attacked you, you fought four of them, we helped you defeat the other two?”

 

She furrowed her eyebrows. “Yeah?”

 

“It was a set-up. We sent them to you. Scott, me...well, mainly Scott. We wanted to see how you would do.  _ What _ you would do. You were just a senior. We’d gotten bored of watching you just...walk to and from school, to and from  _ rehearsal _ , to and from --”

 

“What…” Alex’s voice was small. Her whole world was beginning to break down, right in front of her. “What do you mean you  _ watched _ me? That day at the park, t _ hat _ was the first time we --”

 

“First time we  _ met _ , yeah. But we’ve known about you for ages. Alex, can’t you just --” Riley cut himself off, exasperated. “Can’t you figure it out? We’ve known about you for ages. Why do you think we found you in the first place? Because we just  _ happened to be in the right time, in the right place _ ? Scott’s been looking for you. And then he had  _ me _ look for you. He’s known all this time you were the descendant of Achilles.”

 

Alex started shaking her head. She didn’t believe it. She  _ couldn’t _ . She didn’t notice that Riley’s hand was still over hers, and she started clenching her fist again. Even her other hand, once placed flat on the table, was now in a fist. From the edge of her vision, she could see the glow again. She gritted her teeth, her fury rising --

 

“And now…” Riley sighed. “We’ve got a problem. Because if you fight me right now, in this mall...Scott’s got a team watching over your parents. He’ll give the order to attack them.”

 

The glow faded. Her furious expression changed to shock.  _ Fear _ . 

 

“You can’t fight me, Alex,” he said, grave. He took his hand off hers. “So all you can do now, is listen.”

 

**

 

In the middle of the food court, he told her about the day she was found by them. How she’d already been in a mad frenzy  _ killing _ the giants, before they had to step in and stop her -- and not, as she had been told before, to protect her. How they first heard about her because of what happened at her old school. That they’d been looking for people her age, kids with violent tendencies. How her parents had done well hiding her, encouraging her to be physically able, but also to be  _ soft _ . 

 

That was the part Alex hated the most. Riley said it as if being soft was  _ bad _ . 

 

It took all her being to stop him from talking, to throw him across the food court, crash him through a window, find Scott, force him to -- to --

 

And that was when her line of reason usually ended. Force him to what? To let her parents go? Riley had told her there were at least two teams surrounding the mall right now, all watching and waiting to see how the conversation was going. She could imagine how they would work. One person to notify Scott that she’d retaliated. And the rest, to stop her. The team with her parents, she had no clue about. From all the things she remembered, staying with Scott and Riley, she knew that there was never any clear policy for things. Scott liked to be creative. No two missions were ever the same. Maybe the team were posing as friendly neighbours, having tea with her parents right now. Maybe they were just sitting outside in a van. Maybe they’d planted a remote-detonated bomb. 

 

She tried not to feel too overwhelmed at thought, but her stomach was already churning. 

 

If people really were watching her, then they probably saw her put the vest over the chair. But Riley hadn’t taken a call the entire time he was talking. And she didn’t notice any earpieces.  _ God, I hope that satyr saw me _ .

 

Riley continued explaining. Maybe he was relieved too, to finally be able to say all this. He told her about how the fight between him and Scott had been real, that they really had left Scott because of the fight, and that Scott had allowed them to live together, and to attend university, and start a new life. At least that part wasn’t a lie. 

 

By now, Riley had also started to eat her unfinished burger.

 

“...but he only did that because,” he said, after swallowing a big bite, “we already worked well together. As a team. You, me and Mags.  _ That _ wasn’t a lie either,” he added.

 

“Right. That wasn’t a lie, but everything else was,” she said blankly.

 

“ _ Not _ everything.”

 

“But still,” she interjected, “ _ everything _ .”

 

He narrowed his eyes. “Do you actually expect me to go back over, like, five years and nitpick every single thing we ever said and did? We’re still  _ friends _ , Alex.”

 

“You’re  _ insane _ ,” she hissed. 

 

“I’m  _ not _ . Not  _ me _ . Scott maybe,” Riley pointed next to him, as if Scott was actually there.

 

“Yeah, but you’re still going along with it.” His eyes flickered to her, before going back to the burger. “I don’t understand,” she continued. “You and Scott never get along. Why would you…?”

 

“Do you know how many times the world almost ended because of gods?” he asked, ignoring her question completely. He dropped the burger back on the table and wiped his hands on his pants. “The Manhattan thing. All the mortals fell asleep, sure. But Kingshield Tower didn’t. You know that story. Davey. Mags’ parents. And this wasn’t some sort of human terrorist attack based on rights, or religion, or oil, or goddamn money.  _ No _ . It was gods. Gods and their kids and their whole stupid world. Thinking that the world’s still their playground.”

 

“I heard the story from the kids at camp,” Riley continued. “ _ Luke Castellan _ . Sounded like a good enough idea,” he shrugged. “But he was still part of that system. Then the thing with the Earth Goddess. Then the thing with the Triumvirate, all those ancient kings or something. I actually remember some of those names from people Scott used to talk to. Your friend Piper? Her father nearly got  _ bankrupt _ because of those old kings. And for no good reason, except for the fact that he had a child with a goddess. And who’s fault was that? Mr McClean’s, or Aphrodite’s? Again -- they’re still thinking the world’s their playground because they’re immortal and bored.”

 

Alex opened her mouth to intervene, but Riley was too quick. He was getting heated in his own rant. “And then what about us? Mags’ parents, ten years worth of innovative technology  _ gone _ because some kid got it into his head that he could be a god. Davey, he wanted to be a lawyer so he could help with the foster kid system.  _ Your parents _ .” Riley paused, waiting for a reaction. Alex just frowned at him. 

 

But Riley didn’t end up saying anything. He just shrugged. “And then  _ you _ . Even we don’t know why the line of Achilles got worse. But you really think  _ biology _ is the reason for all that bloodlust?”

 

Alex thought about it. She thought about all his points; she could understand why he believed them. Try as he would to make it all sound reasonable, like it was just common sense, Alex knew that he was still grieving over Davey. Davey’s death was the one thing that changed him. Everything else was just confetti.

 

“...so what do you want me to do about it?” she asked. “Lead you? Storm Olympus? Start World War Three? There’s not even enough people, and now with  _ both camps _ coming after you --”

 

Then she stopped.

 

“Wait…” Alex’s eyes widened. “That’s why you gave the location. You released those videos. You’ve been calling Scott this whole time -- you’re actually trying to get the  _ whole world _ in on this?”

 

Riley leaned back on his chair, stretching. “I don’t see why not.”

 

Alex shook her head. “You  _ are _ insane. There’s a reason why the gods are still alive, why everything still has to be a secret. It’s the same reason why I’m not parading the fact that I’ve got these -- these  _ powers _ . The same reason why you told me to never fight -- assuming  _ that’s _ not a lie either,” she snapped. Riley shook his head, telling her it wasn’t. “Well, then, that’s it. Everything has to be kept a secret, because people can’t handle it. Even me. I  _ still _ can’t handle it. The world has enough problems, Riles. I’m not joining your fight. Your  _ thing _ , whatever it is.”

 

He looked disappointed. “Even with your parents on the line?”

 

Alex’s jaw clenched. “You’re going to let my parents  _ go _ .”

 

“Not my call. That’s still on you. You can’t fight me,” he pointed a finger at her, taunting her. Alex thought about snapping the bones in half. How would she get out of this? She needed to get to Camp Halfblood --  _ no _ , she needed to get to her parents. And anyway, she didn’t even know if the camp would  _ want _ her back. And she was  _ supposedly _ surrounded with a team right now.

 

She needed to test it first.

 

Alex scraped her chair back suddenly, making sure the sound was loud. And at least ten people from the crowd lunged forward -- with Riley reaching for something at his belt. 

 

She narrowed her eyes at him. She moved the chair forwards again, sitting down calmly on the seat. “You had a gun this whole time? Pretty  _ basic _ of you.”

 

Riley blinked, hand still on his belt, and then relaxed with a small smile. 

 

“Why use swords when we have guns, right? Why wait for  _ demigods _ to go on our side, when we’ve got you? All we need are  _ more _ of you now.” 

 

Alex glared at him. Something struck her as odd about that last sentence, like a lingering joke or a punch-line waiting to happen. But Riley didn’t seem like he was going to explain.

 

“Speaking of demigods... “ Riley leaned forward on the table, folding his arms on it. “Even if you do manage to get out here, and/or save your parents...I wouldn’t go back there. Not after the way we left.”

 

“Somehow I don’t think the demigods are as two-faced and insane as you. Once I explain --”

 

“Oh, no, it’s not just that. You remember I pinged the location, right?” Riley lifted up his phone for show. “Well, it turns out people aren’t as adventurous as I thought they would be. Some people went out to Long Island, but then I guess that huge statue told them to go away or something.  _ Magic _ ,” he rolled his eyes. “So now we’re trying something  _ new _ . Remember what we were working on before we left? Down in R&D?”

 

He wasn’t smirking anymore, wasn’t joking around. He spoke slowly and carefully, making sure Alex absorbed every word, and had time to process it. 

 

_ Research & Development _ . Before they’d left, Scott and Riley’s big fight had had to do with how many people were getting injured during the fights with monsters. How many people they were  _ losing _ . And, as in true fashion, Scott, being from the generation that grew up under the mushroom cloud, suggested something so horrifying, everyone had to shut it down. 

 

At least, Alex _ thought  _ everyone did. 

 

“Riley…” she began, shocked. “You  _ can’t _ .”

 

“A hundred people. Just...a hundred people,” he responded. But the way he said it made it sound like he was still trying to convince himself. Riley’s thick brows bunched together as he frowned. “And anyway, we’ll see how effective a bomb like that is. Maybe the statue will stop it and it’ll just be pretty fireworks in the sky.” He paused. “It’s  _ not _ nuclear. It’ll just be a regular bomb.”

 

Then his expression shifted, like he just realised how insane he actually sounded. And then Alex didn’t have to say anything anymore. 

 

“Look, I’m not a complete sadist. You  _ know _ me, Alex. It’s just -- it’s just a barrel bomb. Like an IED. And if they’re smart -- if the demigods are smart -- then they’ve probably already figured out something to counter it. And then  _ boom _ ,” he banged his fist lightly on the table, but the action made Alex’s heart jump. “Fair battlefield.”

 

Silence. The two friends, old friends, stared at each other for what seemed like forever. Riley, and the team watching them, were probably on the edge trying to figure out what Alex was going to do. Alex, herself, was still forming her plan. What could she afford to lose? 

 

“When are they releasing the bomb?” she asked, looking away from him. 

 

“Any time now.”

 

Another silence. 

 

She didn’t have to look around to see where the nearest exit was. There was no point. The mall was unfamiliar. Riley had brought her here when she was tired but calm. She hadn’t paid attention to the lay-out. She’d just have to  _ run _ . 

 

Her eyes flickered back to Riley. 

 

“I want to call Scott. I want to talk about my parents.”

 

He didn’t hesitate to call the number. 

 

When the phone was finally in her hands, her first instinct was to try and crush it. But she waited for the dial-tone to end, and then she heard Scott’s familiar voice over the phone. 

 

“Scott,” she said, thanking every single god out there that her voice didn’t crack.

 

“ _ Alex. Honey _ .”

 

Now she  _ really _ wanted to crush the phone. 

 

“ _ I trust Riley’s told you all that you needed to know? _ ”

 

“Sure. You want me to become some sort of evil She-Ra.”

 

“ _ I knew letting you watch Sunday cartoons all the time wasn’t good for you _ .”

 

“I liked She-Ra.”

 

“ _ Alex, get to the point. _ ”

 

She inhaled and exhaled. “I want to know what kind of danger my parents are in.”

 

“ _ Enough danger _ .”

 

“I’m serious.”

 

Scott sighed over the phone. “ _ A van outside the house. Your parents are watching TV together right now. Your father just finished mowing the lawn _ .”

 

Maybe they saw the van. Maybe they’re figuring out a way to leave.

 

“ _...and we’ve also sent them a package addressed to you. They’re good folks, they’ve left it in the lounge, unopened._ _But a present like that doesn’t need opening for it to give off a big...bang_.”

 

Alex could’ve stopped breathing right then and there.

 

“But you won’t hurt them,” she said. “You won’t hurt them if I don’t fight back, right?”

 

“ _ Exactly right _ .”

 

“As long as I don’t fight back,” Alex repeated. “You promise?”

 

“ _ I promise _ .”

 

No, Alex thought. That wasn’t good enough. 

 

“Do you swear on the River Styx?” she added. 

 

Silence on the other end. And then a soft, dark chuckle. “ _ Camp’s really done a number on you, huh, kiddo? All right. I’ll humour you. I swear on the River Styx, no harm will come to you parents as long as you don’t fight back. I still like Riley, and the team with you right now are just fresh off the training course. It’d be a shame to see them defeated so soon.” _

 

“And you’re watching me, right? You’re the one who decides if I’m fighting or not?”

 

Another silence. Alex feared maybe he was getting suspicious. But he just chuckled again, as if this was a game he knew he would win anyway. “ _ Yes. I’ve got the final say-so. I’ve got eyes and ears everywhere. You know this. Nice trick with the vest, by the way _ .”

 

Alex told herself not to react to the last remark. “Okay. Okay, good. I won’t fight. I won’t fight, Scott.”

 

“ _ Good girl _ .”

 

The call ended. Alex held the phone gingerly in her hand. Riley looked relieved, slumping back on the seat. 

 

She couldn’t fight. She  _ wouldn’t _ . 

 

But she could  _ run _ . 

 

That didn’t count as fighting, right? It’s the opposite of fighting. It’s  _ flighting _ . 

 

She reached out to put the phone down in the exact middle of the table, her pulse racing as she timed herself. 

 

Her shoes were tied. It wasn’t too hot. She wouldn’t get sweaty, she wouldn’t slow down. 

 

_ Oh, please. Alex May Estrada, slow down? _

 

She just had to make sure to avoid Riley, and anyone else from Kingshield. She couldn’t throw anything at them, she couldn’t kick at them -- she just had to trust Scott’s affinity for games, she had to keep playing in a way that made this all seem fun. A cat and mouse game. She could do this.

 

As soon as she dropped the phone on the table, she bolted. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And after two-ish weeks, I’ve returned with another chapter! This part of the story is almost over. This would be ‘Part One’; I like the idea of keeping all the parts in just one story rather than creating another book/story. It’s going to be a fairly long one, with a lot more reveals and twists along the way -- ones that are hopefully just as exciting for you as it is for me! I love writing this story so much, I wish I had more time and energy to write this faster, but alas, uni is a thing. 
> 
> As always, thank you to the readers of FOTB! The old ones, the loyal ones, the new ones! All the views and comments mean so much to me, so thank you always! 
> 
> Here’s a fun-fact: FOTB is also the acronym for ‘Fresh Off The Boat’, right? A popular saying regarding new migrants. My initial idea for this story was to stress the migrant part more, but instead I took the acronym and found a cool way to use it with ‘For Only The Buried’. ‘For Only The Buried’ has its own special meaning, though. And don’t worry, it’ll be revealed eventually in the story! As will most things. Trust me, if there’s something confusing, I’ve probably already planned it out and it’ll come out in the next few chapters fhbvkwtjhfbg but ofc, with still just enough mystery to keep the intrigue going.
> 
> But can anyone guess what the title means???? Bonus points, we could have a discussion about it 👀
> 
> Either way, thank you for reading Chapter Nineteen!!! <33 Hope everyone has a lovely week!


	20. Hocus Pocus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one inspired by the song by Focus. Hocus Pocus, by Focus.

**Alex.**

 

“ _Shit!”_ Alex heard Riley swore.

 

The entire food court seemed to stand still -- _stunned_ at why this random girl was suddenly **bolting** like her life depended on it. She crashed past a man holding a tray of fast-food, the drink and food splattering all over him. And it was in the middle of his ‘ _WHAT THE HELL!’_ shout that the Kingshield agents finally took action.

 

The agents all wore sunglasses and baseball caps. Probably a personal gag from Riley since he always pointed out how the characters in Marvel movies always looked way too obvious. But it served its purpose. Their faces remained covered from security footage.

 

Alex couldn’t care less.

 

“ _Moving from East Food Court --”_ she heard someone yell into a radio.

 

She held her arms out like an arrowhead, yelling _‘MOVE! MOVE!’_ at a group of people who’d wanted to see what was going on. _Where was security?_ she thought, just as she dashed past an elderly man in mall cop uniform, looking dumbfounded with his radio in his hand. Everybody shrieked as they made way for her, her feet pounded on the tiles of the food court as she ran.

 

A leap over the steps (the food court was a little sunken in the ground).

 

A narrow miss as she spun around to avoid crashing into a woman on her phone. Maybe the woman had yelled for her to stop, to warn her that she was in the way -- but Alex couldn’t hear anything. Everything was a loud _whoosh_ against her ears. It usually helped her to concentrate on running, but now it just made her feel more _alien._ _Criminal_.

 

How far behind were the agents?

 

From the shouts going on behind her, she could tell they were catching up -- if not keeping a steady distance behind her. More people were getting curious, some of them just standing in shock, or crowding together to get a good look. Alex kept yelling for them to make way, but it also gave away her position.

 

_How big was this stupid mall?_

 

“ ** _ALEX_** \--” shouted Riley, his voice either magnified by some bullhorn or Alex’s own hearing zeroing in on the voice that had been her friend, that had betrayed her. Riley’s voice was usually the one she sought out to help her calm down. But now...

 

“ _Alex, I know you can hear me! You can run but you can’t hide! Think about your parents! Think about_ \--”

 

...her blood boiled.

 

“Shut up, _SHUT UP_ \--” she barked at nothing in particular, her anger now propelling her forward. Her feet pounded on the floor. She found a corridor that led to sliding doors. The white glow of sunshine through the windows. The mall parking lot.

 

Should she get her bag? Should she find the satyr? Should she --?

 

“ _We’re gonna get you, Alex -- you know who’s following you, right?_ ” Riley’s distant voice in her head felt like the echoes of a surround-sound speaker. Stuck in the back of her head. She swatted at her ear as she ran.

 

The distance between her and the automatic doors was closing _fast_. Alex gasped, unable to stop herself as she bounded forward with no choice but to --

 

 **_CRASH_ ** through the glass. The motion sensors never saw her coming.

 

She held her balance well enough that she continued running down the parking lot. Patted away glass caught in her sleeves. But she’d emerged on the other side of the parking lot, she couldn’t see the truck from here. The truck? Wait, why did she need the truck? No, she didn’t need the truck -- she couldn’t drive out of here, she was a shitty driver --

 

Alex ducked behind a car, hiding herself for the time being. She stopped, catching her breath. Running didn’t usually make her feel like she wanted to die, like her lungs were in her throat, but _now_...

 

“Yo _u know there’s no point, Alex_.”

 

Riley sounded way too calm. She could imagine him just sitting at some bench, knowing 100% that she was listening to him, that she would have no choice but to. He knew her so well. He’d been studying her all this time. She thought he was just trying to help her, with all those training sessions, with the counting of her speed, with the maintaining of her diet --

 

Alex punched the car with the side of her fist, enraged.

 

_“You can’t escape this, Alex.”_

 

She needed to find her parents. But she didn’t even know what city she was in. What the hell kind of place did Riley take her to?

 

She took out her phone, scrambling with the screen to get to the maps -- but it was taking too long to load. Alex tapped the screen aggressively like that would help. It _broke_ in her hands.

 

“Shit,” she whispered. “Shit, shit, _shit_ \--”

 

Looking underneath the car, she saw shoes walking slowly to her location, walking in _formation_. No matter what Adidas shoe you wore, no normal person walked like that.

 

Riley’s voice came back again. _“Good trick with the ‘not fighting’, though. I respect that. You’re running, so you’re technically not --_ ”

 

“Screw you, Riley,” she scowled to herself. She thought about making taking hold of one of these cars and throwing it at the agents but -- that would probably count as ‘fighting back’.

 

There was nothing to it. Alex took a deep breath and sighed, gathering her energy to her centre, focusing on just one goal.

 

 _Okay_.

 

Four agents heading her direction. Click of the safety on a gun. Crunch of gravel means they stopped. Riley’s voice shut up in her head.

 

It didn’t matter which direction she went, she’d just head for the streets, to find a place to lay low for at least ten minutes so she could find where she was and then find the direction to her parents. She’d run all the way across the continent if she had to.

 

Alex geared up. She couldn’t stay here. She couldn’t _stop_.

 

_Okay, okay._

 

_One. Two --_

 

Alex made a break for it. Her eyes locked onto the cluster of buildings across the busy intersection.

 

Hotfooting across the parking lot. The agents weren’t slowing down (why the hell weren’t they slowing down?!) but they were burdened by something else. Kingshield thrived under secrecy. They couldn’t do all their operations if someone had proof that they existed. They had the guns, but they wouldn’t dare openfire in public.

 

But she weaved through the cars just in case. Back on the road, she held out her hand to stop a car from running her over. It skidded to a halt, _BEEPING_ at her angrily.

 

Alex pumped her arms as she headed for the intersection. The agents on her heels. She didn’t look back, didn’t need to. The lights turned green for two roads, and a long stream of cars passed each other, cutting through in the middle of the intersection.

 

At the edge of the curb, she leapt up.

 

The force of her leap had her easily crossing over the river of cars, landing on the other side.

 

Alex screamed a little as she waved her arms to balance herself as she landed. She crashed onto the ground, right in front of the road of cars waiting at the red light. Alex waved and gave an awkward smile at the shocked driver at the front.

 

Stepping onto the sidewalk, she finally looked back. The agents were waiting. The cars still rolling between them. Red lights changed to green. Riley was there, looking the picture of calm with the agents around him, barely huffing and puffing after the chase Alex gave them.

 

Alex, herself, felt only a little winded. Her heart was mainly racing from fear.

 

But why weren’t these mortal agents tired?

 

She frowned, then darted down the block.

 

**

 

“Shit, shit, shit, fuck, shit --” Alex murmured to herself, busy clacking away at a keyboard and clicking at a mouse to finally find out where the hell she was.

 

The person whose Internet cafe computer she’d hijacked just watched her, afraid of what she’d do if he disturbed her. She’d come in and pretended to know him, before gripping his shoulder tightly and asking him if he valued the bloodflow in his arms. He did.

 

The young man sipped somberly at his iced coffee while he waited.

 

_Click, click._

 

Woodsdale? _Bel Air South?_ How’d they get to California?!

 

She zoomed out.

 

 _Ah_ , it was Bel Air, Maryland.

 

 _Okay_ , so they were close to Baltimore.

 

 _Clack, clack, clack_. Nearest airport was the BWI Marshall Airport.

 

Could she run to Baltimore?

 

Police sirens rushing up the road made her jump. She closed the windows of the internet browser immediately and stood up. Gunshots made everyone in the cafe react.

 

Scott told them to never fire guns in public. Riley, also, never used guns, even if he had one just in case. Mags was usually the trigger-happy one.

 

Could someone change that much?

 

She looked at the time on the corner of the screen. Two minutes had gone by. Two minutes since she’d lost the agents. Two minutes since she’d dashed down that block and disappeared into so many alleys and random turns that even she couldn’t figure out where she was.

 

Maybe she had more time. Maybe she could send a message to the Camp somehow. Her mind raced for a solution. If someone was watching the Internet for more things about Camp Halfblood…

 

“Do you have social media?” she snapped at the man. The man blinked. “Twitter? Tumblr? Reddit?” Alex shook his shoulder to get him to focus.

 

He stammered a _‘y-yes’_ and pulled up a Twitter account.

 

“Listen, I’m really sorry....” she murmured, tapping out a tweet and then sending it off. “Don’t delete that. _Please_. Something bad will happen if you do,” she added, hoping he understood

 

The man just stared, then nodded fiercely.

 

More police cars rushed up the road. The _brat-brat-brat_ of a small machine gun.

 

There was never just _one_ Kingshield team out here.

 

Alex narrowed her eyes.

 

The internet cafe had only a small window-front, with tinted blue glass, but she could see anyone walking by. And just then, two figures, side-stepping carefully, appeared on either end of the window.

 

Alex made off to the back of the cafe, vaulting over the cash register bench and heading into the backroom.

 

It was a race to survive.

 

The chase took them to the edge of the city. Before that, she’d run through more parking lots, vaulted over a chain-link fence, jumped on park picnic tables, hid up a tree, and then finally they ended up in a warehouse district of sorts. The other Kingshield team had revealed themselves near the park, a large black van that followed the chase but didn’t participate yet. They were probably Plan B.

 

Alex stopped by a dumpster, her legs giving way underneath her, and she crashed to the floor with a gasp. She still had no idea where she was going; she only knew what she was running to.

 

She closed her eyes, waiting for a voice to tell her what to do. The man in the farmer’s clothes, the woman by the sea, _hell, even Achilles_...but no voice appeared. And she was alone.

 

With that thought, Alex almost cried.

 

In the distance, she heard the echo of gunfire. They were more liberal with it now that there weren’t too many people around. She just hoped someone had alerted the police. They’d lost them somewhere along the way -- but maybe they would return. Then suddenly --

 

A bullet ricocheted of the floor next to her feet.

 

Alex scrambled to hide herself against the wall.

 

She took in her surroundings. There was a fire-escape leading into one of the bare warehouses, the glass of the windows broken, graffiti all over the walls. A bullet went off again, ricocheting off the dumpster this time. The shooter was _toying_ with her.

 

Taking her chances with the relative safety of the warehouse, she jumped up, climbing up the ladder and entering the building.

 

And by the window, was the gunman -- or, rather, _gunwoman_.

 

The woman was short, about Alex’s height. She had curly red hair tied up in a bun that barely kept all the curls in -- and splattered across her face were orange freckles. She would have looked pretty to Alex if she didn’t have such a gruesome, ugly look on her face, like a hunter who’d finally caught her prey. And, of course, the sidearms in her hands.

 

Alex also noticed a bag by the window, filled with glittering and shiny things. Were those _iPads_? They did pass by an electronics store on the way here, along a fancier strip mall. At the top, lay a shotgun.

 

The woman’s earpiece was also hanging off her neck.

 

“This is probably when I should say something cool, right? Like: _aw, bet you didn’t see this coming, Estrada_. But that’s just weird ‘cause we don’t know each other. So -- wouldn’t really achieve the same affect,” the woman shrugged.

 

Alex took a step back. The woman took a step forward, chuckling.

 

“No, listen, look. Straight off the bat: I’m not here for you. I mean, you’re the _job_ . But I know the people you know and...let’s just say, I can’t wait until they come rescue you. Because...they always come to the rescue. That’s the problem with your _breed_ . You _actually_ think you’re all heroes,” she scowled. “It’s funny, though, I’ll give you that.”

 

Alex shook her head like it was a twitch. She took a few more steps back.

 

The woman shot twice at her feet, missing by inches.

 

“ _Ah, ah, ah_. No point running. Even those Target sneakers have to wear out at some point.”

 

Alex put her hands up, her gaze steely. “You don’t know what’s going on. I’ll tell you, if you --”

 

“Oh, jeez, come on. We have your parents, you’ve got special powers but you’re still more human than godly, I get it, I get it -- I get the _concept_ . You’ll find that I don’t actually care about all those things, Usain Bolt. My only issue is --” The woman pulled a funny face. “ _This_ is it? _This_ is the guy who’s supposed to lead us all into a whole new world? Someone call the genie.”

 

Alex spun around and jumped out the window.

 

What waited for her on the ground floor, was a net. And as soon as her body hit the ropes, a button was pressed, issuing minor electric shocks along the threads. Alex screamed a bloodcurdling scream, her body twisting and turning, sinking into the net as the agents holding the ropes tied her up.

 

With each shock came a different vision in her mind:

 

_A man screaming just like her, trapped in a cage of fire, screaming: ‘MOTHER! MOTHER! YOU WITCH --’_

 

_Another man, lying on a bed in a beautiful place, a place like Heaven, nothing but sadness in his eyes as he asked: “Where is Achilles?”_

 

_The farmer on top of Halfblood Hill, shaking his head._

 

 _A swarm of Kingshield agents rushing the Hill, at the same time, a BOOM_ _resounding from the camp, smoke and fire rising --_

 

_And the woman by the sea again, her hair blowing like there was a sea breeze in the middle of Long Island, but she was behind the group of Agents, whispering into their ears, holding out her arms --_

 

The shocks stopped.

 

Alex gasped, gathering whatever air she could. Her whole body went numb, but her limbs spasmed and twitched. One arm managed to slip between the net, reaching for help from a familiar pair of shoes approaching her.

 

“We couldn’t just capture her?” Riley asked someone she couldn’t see.

 

“If you can’t stomach it, King Baby,” came the voice of the woman with red hair, “then maybe you should wait in the car. Grab a sippy cup. Farley can give you one --”

 

“Fuck off, Bobofit.”

 

Another gunshot.

 

“What the _hell_ \--” cried Farley.

 

“Missed you by _that_ much,” warned Bobofit.

 

“All right, shut up --” Riley snapped his fingers. “Pick her up, get her out of here and then head to the van.”

 

Three people lifted Alex, still wrapped in the net. The feeling was slowly coming back to her body, and she was able to move her fingers and feet now, but there was no way of escaping with the three strong arms holding her and moving her down the alley. They took her out to a clearing between all the warehouses. Two of the warehouses and a chainlink fence protecting train-tracks formed a sort of triangular shape. There was nothing here but graffiti, gravel, broken windows, and manholes.

 

Two vans were parked by each warehouse. Riley and Bobofit went with the three carriers and Alex, and the rest of the team (Alex couldn’t count, but it looked like a large number) headed to the other van.

 

Her eyes were feeling less heavy by the second, her vision clearing. But her panic was rising now. She felt like a fish, trapped in the net, losing her breath, and now she was going to be packaged and...what? Made to lead an army of insane people?

 

She made one last attempt to wiggle out of the net. The agents just held her tighter, finally laying her down in the back of the van. Alex reached out her hand to the open air.

 

And just as the doors were about to close, a large shadow, like a blackhole emerged from the side of the warehouse. The first figure that jumped out was Nico -- and another young man -- whose first action was to hold out his hands to the manhole covers -- water exploding from them and crashing into the Kingshield agents on that side of the building. The water propelled them over the chain-link fence. Then four more figures came out. Issa, Taki, Piper, Mags.

 

Alex managed a smile.

 

The first person to react on the remaining Kingshield side was Bobofit.

 

“ _JACKSON_ \--” she roared, sending a flurry of bullets from her sidearms, marching towards the new team. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 👀
> 
> This scene was greatly inspired by the ‘Hocus Pocus’ chase scene from Baby Driver, hence the title! I usually have words from the chapter as the title but the inspiration was too iconic.
> 
> MORE ACTION TO COME! And a sort of re-assurance, knowing that a lot of things are happening right now, don’t worry -- I haven’t forgotten about anything. The Amazons, the Prophecy, the visions, the mysterious (or not so mysterious!) figures in the visions. Also the camps are having issues.
> 
> Right now all I can say is: 👀
> 
> Hope everyone enjoyed!!! Thank you, as always, for reading!!


	21. Thirty Minutes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one that's meant to last thirty minutes.

_Five minutes ago. The battlefield of Camp Half-blood._

 

“I’ll be back, I promise.” Percy held Annabeth’s hand. Blood stained one side of her face, and blood was splotched all over his shirt. Debris was stuck in her curly blonde hair, loose from its ponytail. Percy’s hair, as usual, was directionless, but now with the distinct smell of smoke. As dirty and messy as both of them looked, Percy and Annabeth still stood with the strength of gods.

 

But they were better than any god Piper had ever seen.

 

“You’ll be back or _else_ ,” Annabeth said, with a small smile.

 

“You know, honestly? You against all these bad agent guys? Not a fair fight at all,” Percy pointed out. “I feel sorry for them.”

 

Annabeth laughed. She pulled him by his collar and kissed him, before pushing him to the direction of the small away team.

 

Piper watched Annabeth run back to the battlefield, Chiron galloping next to her, and the remaining leadership of the demigods.

 

They had decided that nothing in camp needed to be saved, except each other. They didn’t need to protect the cabins anymore. They didn’t need to protect the forge. All they needed to protect was each other.

 

The younger demigods were already being escorted into the relative safety of the woods, many of them disappearing using the Labyrinth. But all the older ones stayed, fighting to let the other ones escape and live. And still, a smaller group, lead by Annabeth and Chiron, were trying to destroy the invaders.

 

“Are you ready to do what’s necessary?” Piper caught Issa asking Mags.

 

Mags flashed her a look. “Yes.”

 

Issa scoffed. “I don’t think you are.”

 

Mags’ expression darkened. She looked away from Issa, and caught Piper’s eye. There was something there Piper couldn’t quite read. Not quite a sign of betrayal but still -- there was regret and shame.

 

** 

 

 _Now_. _The battlefield between the warehouses._

 

Percy _had_ told her to wait first before rushing in. Piper gasped as she was pulled back by her jacket, avoiding the flurry of bullets aimed at their group. Percy lifted up a wall of water, closing his fist so the water solidified into ice.

 

“That’s _new_ ,” Piper gawked.

 

Percy looked back with a sideways grin. “I’ve been watching a lot of tv.”

 

More bullets cascaded upon the ice wall, some of them breaking through, missing the team and hitting the brick wall behind them. Percy lifted water from the sewers again, creating a wall of ice down to the van, and everyone rushed to hide behind it.

 

Issa took a little longer. She had a shield with her, plus her sword, and a few throwing daggers. She threw one of them at an agent, and from the loud groan, Piper knew she’d hit her mark. Then the Amazon joined them behind the van.

 

“Let’s take them _now_ \--” Taki grunted, gripping a bronze sword in his hands. He had on armour too. Just the chest-plate, though; it was all he could grab in their mad dash to escape the battlefield of Camp Halfblood.

 

Piper leaned against the van, trying to catch her breath. She had only _katoptris_ , and not much else.

 

Everything that had happened in the past two hours hit her.

 

 _Mags telling them everything. The Kingshield agents arriving. The bomb that hit the cabins. Percy and Annabeth arriving just in time. Percy using the water from the lake to douse the flames. Just in time to watch another bomb fall,_ just _missing the Big House, but hitting its mark on a group of campers._

 

_Smoke, blood, flames, shouts._

 

The agents here were still shooting at them, but Percy and Nico were making quick work of getting the shooters off their feet. All Percy could do from this angle was hope the torpedoes of water he sent was hitting their aim, and Nico had to save his energy.

 

Piper, Percy and Taki screamed as the bullets flew from under the van, the shooters now aiming for their feet. They jumped at the ricochets, and Percy lost his concentration.

 

They were _not_ used to guns.

 

“Stand _back_ \--” Issa commanded. The others followed.

 

The Amazon lifted the edge of the van and yelled as she pulled it up until it was turned over on its side. The doors at the back of the van banged open. But now no bullets could hit them at all.

 

Piper stared in awe as Issa spat on the floor, massaging her arms.

 

“Look, I don’t wanna be that guy, but --” Nico ducked his head as more bullets hit them. “Are you guys gonna be okay here? I need to get back to camp.”

 

Percy nodded, then added: “Be back here in thirty minutes.”

 

Nico frowned. “Why thirty?”

 

“We’ll smoke these guys by then,” Percy smirked.

 

Nico gave him a look like he didn’t believe him, but he left anyway, disappearing in the shadow at their feet.

 

“And how _exactly_ do you plan on ‘smoking’ them, Jackson?” Issa asked.

 

Percy opened his mouth and closed it. “I was -- uh -- thinking we could brainstorm that.”

 

Issa rolled her eyes, swearing to herself (something about _amateurs_ ) but Piper was used to this. Even with all the bad guys on the other side, the mass of guns they seemed to have, and the fact that all of them wanted to see them _very much dead_ \-- she was glad she was with Percy.

 

She just hated that this was what he and Annabeth had to come home to.

 

“Not exactly your ideal weekend back, huh?” she asked, crawling over to crouch next to him.

 

“Honestly, I wanna make a joke but -- I’m _really_ hating this right now,” he sighed, tired but determined.

 

Percy waved his arm, sending another wave of water towards the agents. Screams sounded as bodies were swept away. But that red-haired madwoman was still screaming.

 

“ _COME OUT, COME OUT, JACKSON -- FIGHT LIKE A GODDAMN MAN --_ ”

 

Percy’s jaw clenched.

 

“Who is this crazy person?” Piper asked.

 

“Nancy Bobofit. She used to throw peanut-butter sandwiches at me. And Grover. Guess she’s upgraded to something a little more deadly,” he frowned.

 

Mags sidled up next to them, a deep crease over her brow. “What are we talking about?”

 

“The one screaming at Percy,” Piper answered.

 

“Nancy Bobofit? Oh, my _God_ ,” Mags’ eyes widened, “you _know_ her?”

 

“Oh, you do too?” Percy asked cheerily, as if Nancy Bobofit wasn’t trying to kill them all right now. “Small world!”

 

Percy concentrated, closing his eyes. He held out his arms to the manholes, as if feeling for something there. The next wave of water he sent was thinner. “Guys, not to _rain_ on everyone’s parade but -- there’s only so much water I can get, we’re gonna lose our supply pretty darn quick. Does anyone have any secret long-range powers they can use?”

 

“We can throw Taki,” Issa suggested.

 

Taki turned to her, affronted.

 

“I’m _kidding_ ,” Issa assured, though no one was very convinced.

 

“We can try talking,” Piper offered.

 

Another round of bullets.

 

Percy winced at the sounds, cringing. “I don’t think they’re gonna hear you.”

 

“Mags,” Piper turned to her. “You know guns.”

 

Mags made a face. “Unfortunately.”

 

“When do they usually run out?”

 

Mags made a different face. An _‘are you kidding me’_ face. “I can’t know that from here. I can guess, but -- they’re using semi-automatics, and I can’t see their supply or anything. They could have thousands of rounds, we could be stuck here forever. We’re lucky they haven’t used anything worse. They have a van on that side, and if it’s the supply va --”

 

Mags stopped. Everyone’s eyes widened, waiting for her to continue.

 

She didn’t answer. Still crouching, Mags crawled to the back of the van, with its doors swung open. When she came back, she had a more positive look on her face. “ _We_ have the supply van.”

 

Then the bullets stopped. Everyone froze.

 

Piper saw Percy lower his arms, his hand coming to his jean pocket. He took out a pen, uncapped it, and there was _Riptide_. Percy mumbled something to himself, but it wasn’t loud enough for Piper to understand.

 

All those jokes from before, she knew it was like second-nature to Percy. As long as she’d known him, she knew he wasn’t the type to always show when he was concerned, to always show when he was really _deathly_ terrified. He’d encouraged everyone that it was okay to be afraid, but he wasn’t one to easily show it himself.

 

She could tell from the way he was holding the sword, that seeing Nancy Bobofit again wasn’t just some funny reunion. Not when she was connected to the people that had already killed so many campers. And were _still_ attacking camp now.

 

Annabeth had stayed behind to fight, but who knows what else Kingshield had in store?

 

He wanted to get back as soon as possible, and Piper couldn’t blame him.

 

Percy sneaked a peek over the van, and a single bullet flew through, whizzing past his hair.

 

He ducked again, his face pale, but also _furious_.

 

“ _We can talk about this, you know,_ ” a familiar voice shouted. “ _I can stop Nancy, I can stop this -- but you guys have to promise to stop too. We can TALK_.”

 

“Riley’s the one with the curly hair? Big eyebrows? Guy who just said all that bullcrap?” Percy asked, through gritted teeth.

 

“ _Yes_ ,” said Piper and Mags at the same time.

 

“Great. Hate him already. Douchebag of the year.”

 

Piper heard Taki hide a snigger behind his hand, but Mags’ reaction was a little harder to read. She just pressed her lips into a thin line, revealing nothing.

 

“Did you see anything?” Issa asked.

 

Percy inhaled and exhaled. “They got, like, three people shooting. One of them’s Nancy. Riley’s not shooting. It doesn’t look like they have a lot of people doing anything right now. The van’s open, it looks like something’s in there, but I didn’t see what.”

 

“ _All right, this is bullshit, time to up the ante,”_ came Nancy’s voice.

 

Then they heard a scream. _Alex’s_ scream.

 

Piper moved to rush forward, but Percy held her down, a hand on her shoulder.

 

“ _Hey, Jackson!_ ” came Nancy’s voice again. There was the sound of something dropping to the floor. Alex screaming again. Electricity echoing, fizzing in the air. The rough sound of something being dragged across concrete, then gravel. None of them could see what was happening, but the sounds painted a picture.

 

“ _Here’s what you came to save! I saw you got some goat-guy with you -- that’s not your peewee friend, isn’t it? What was his name again? Drover? Too bad I don’t have a soda can for him to chew on -- that’s what his kind eats, right? Garbage and shit. You are what you eat!”_

“She does this,” Mags said, putting a hand on Percy’s knee, as if to keep him stable. “She yells like this to everyone she wants to fight.”

 

Percy didn’t brush her hand off, though he did glare at it. But Piper knew it wasn’t Mags getting on Percy’s nerves. He let out a sharp sigh. “…I _know_.”

 

Issa lifted her shield to just below her eyes eyes, looking up past the van, but no one shot at her. Not while the _villains_ were _monologuing_.

 

“ _We don’t wanna keep doing this, guys,”_ said Riley, “ _and we know you don’t either. So why don’t we just talk about this? Let’s try and understand each other._ ”

 

Piper huffed. Sometimes, clichés saved lives.

 

“I see them,” murmured Issa. “The Bobo woman is dragging Alexandra through the gravel. They have her tied in a net. They’re -- _electrifying_ her.”

 

Another scream pierced the air.

 

“ _Will you stop that!”_ Riley shouted, angry. “ _Give it to me!”_

 

Piper gripped her dagger in her hand until her knuckles turned white. Blood pounded in her ears. She should’ve brought her sword. They should’ve brought more people. They should’ve found Alex _sooner_.

 

“Do you have a plan?” she asked, breaking the silence on their side. “Do you have a plan, Issa?” she added, looking to the Amazon.

 

“None that are sustainable,” Issa answered, her expression grave. She still had eyes over the van, watching what Piper and the rest of them couldn’t see. “They’re recovering. All the people Jackson swept to the side are coming back. But it seems they have to share their artillery. The Nancy woman holds two guns. Two others have the rifles.”

 

“We can take ‘em,” Taki said. “We can rush them right now. Percy can use the last of the water, we’ll come at them from the side --”

 

“No, we’d get shot on sight. We have no bows and arrows, we have nothing to cover us.”

 

“We have a full _van_ of _guns_!” Taki exclaimed.

 

Issa’s eyes flashed. “And do you know how to use them?”

 

Taki fell silent at that, but the anger in his face was brewing. Issa looked to each of them, asking the same question. Percy and Piper shook their heads. Mags said nothing.

 

“I confess, we haven’t trained with guns,” Issa frowned. “Queen Antigone, after the Second World War, banned their use among the Amazons. We have no use for such barbaric weapons.”

 

 _Too bad_ , Piper almost wanted to say. If only for the fact that they were pretty much cornered now. Otherwise, _guns_ would never have crossed her mind.

 

“Who’s holding the remote?” Mags suddenly asked.

 

“What?” Percy asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

 

“There’s a remote for the net they’re holding Alex with,” Mags explained, strained. “Who’s holding it?”

 

“I saw Riley holding a small box in his hand,” Issa said quickly. “It looked like a phone.”

 

On cue, Riley started speaking again, shouting across the space between them. “ _It’s been a while, guys. Look. We got you surrounded. You can’t waterbend your way out of this, and -- and we have Alex_.” He almost sounded _ashamed_ of himself. Piper’s blood boiled.

 

“ _And Mags_. _Mags, babe, listen_ \--”

 

Everyone turned to look at Mags, who sighed sharply. Piper really didn’t like the way Riley said ‘babe’ like that, and she could tell Mags wasn’t having any of it either.

 

Among all of them -- two demigods, a satyr, and an Amazon -- Mags looked so _mortal_ , Piper almost felt sorry for her. She knew Mags had been in battles before, and was probably a better fighter than she would ever be, but there was still something so loudly human about the way she looked. Hiding herself more, because she knew she couldn’t recover from wounds as fast as they could. Keeping herself between Taki and Issa -- and the two of them subconsciously protecting Mags too.

 

Crouched among them, Piper could sense how mortal she was. Angry, and determined, but mortal.

 

Like Piper, Mags had no armour. She’d only had enough time to bring a sword. And it was useless when they were trapped like this.

 

But was Mags regretting sticking by their side?

 

Piper’s heart raced.

 

“ _Mags,_ ” continued Riley, “ _I’m not gonna pretend to know what you’re thinking. But you gotta know there’s no way out of this. Not without losing everythi --_ ”

 

Issa took the distraction as a moment to throw two more of her daggers at two agents. They fell to the floor in thuds.

 

Someone started shooting again from the other side.

 

“ _Stop!_ ” Riley commanded. “ _Stop, we can talk about this._ ”

 

Piper looked at her team -- Mags had disappeared somewhere, but Issa was rallying Percy and Taki to help her push the van forward, to at least close the gap between them so it would be easier to engage them in closer combat.

 

“ _We’ve got Alex. We’ve got the camp cornered. It’s over for you.”_

 

“Push,” hissed Issa, laying her hands flat on the bed of the van and pushing. Percy, Taki, and Piper pushed as much as they could.

 

Then Piper heard the sound of clicks. “Wait -- what is that?” she asked, taking her hands off the van.

 

It was the kind of sound she’d only heard before in movies. Movies where her dad hid behind a car, reloading a gun, before bravely, _coolly_ , stepping out to meet his enemies. She never thought she’d see it in real life -- until Mags did exactly that.

 

The mortal stepped out from inside the van, crouching so she wouldn’t hit her head before standing up to her full height. Her blonde hair, just as messy as Annabeth’s, blew slightly in the wind. She held only one gun, but it was big and probably the kind that held dozens of bullets. _Waves_ of them.

 

Mags held the clunky gun with ease, the same way Percy and Jason would look with their swords. Like they were just an extension of their arms.

 

 _Now_ , she looked different.

 

And, for the first time that fight, bullets shot forward from their side.

 

Mags hit each agent with precision. Not a single bullet was wasted, aiming mercilessly for chests, arms, legs. For the first time, too, Piper heard the sound of a body being splattered with bullets -- it was _sickening_.

 

The other side exploded into chaos, hiding behind whatever they could to avoid being hit.

 

“Hey, don’t just stand there,” Mags frowned, glancing at them once before clicking a new magazine in place. “Do something.”

 

Mags had her sights dead set on the agents she could see, marching forward with no fear.

 

Percy was the first to lunge forward. He headed straight for Nancy Bobofit, who met him head-on with a warcry. What was it with Kingshield people and warcries? From her hip, Nancy took out what looked like a sword-handle, before clicking a button that extended a long, dark blade. The two swords clashed, Nancy laughing madly at Percy’s face.

 

On Piper’s right, Issa vaulted over the van. She held her shield in front of her, heading straight for three agents. One of the agents threw a grenade, aimed at the van, but Issa jumped up and blocked the grenade with her shield -- sending it right back to the group of agents.

 

The grenade clattered to the belly of the other van -- and the van exploded.

 

“Okay, okay, okay --” Taki was still next to Piper, breathing quickly, bouncing on his hooves like he was psyching himself up. “Okay, let’s go, _come on_ , let’s --”

 

Piper held out her arm to stop him. “No, we have to think about this. Percy, Mags, and Issa have the fighting covered. We need to help _Alex_.”

 

They moved forward a little, hiding behind the van doors so they were closer but still protected. They saw Alex still wrapped in the net, but now glowing gold as she usually did when she used her abilities. She lay on the floor, twitching, shouting at Riley. But the glow was flickering, like a faulty light-bulb.

 

Piper didn’t get it. Riley was _right_ there. Half of Alex’s body was already uncovered, with Riley re-wrapping her in the electric net. It would’ve been so easy to grab him, or to just _punch_ him. Why wasn’t she fighting back?

 

“Clear a path there,” Piper ordered, pointing to the left, at an alley leading to the other side of the warehouses. “I’ll get Alex, but we need to make sure we can _get_ somewhere when we do have her.”

 

“But Nico --”

 

Piper shook her head. “I don’t think thirty minutes has gone by yet. We can’t count on that, and we need to move _now_.”

 

The satyr nodded. He ran towards the left, fighting one large agent standing in his way.

 

Piper loosened her grip on _katoptris_. She measured her breathing, telling herself to keep calm. She fought better when she was calm. And this was a little bit harder than a regular fight -- this was the deadliest game of dodgeball ever.

 

She had to avoid the firefight between Mags and two of the agents. She had to avoid Percy and Nancy exchanging blows. She’d never seen him fight so fiercely since sparring days with Jason -- and maybe once with Clarisse, but Percy was well-known as the best swordsman of their time. Not a lot of people could get him breathless or panicky.

 

Nancy, she could tell, wasn’t a swordsman -- but she fought dirty. She had a more ruthless type of training, especially with hand-to-hand combat. It was honestly shocking how such a lumbering person could be move so _fast_. Percy had to move quicker than Piper had ever seen him. Nancy had a handgun still, and tried to use that, swapping swordhands and aiming the barrel at Percy’s chest -- before he managed to spin away and twist her arm, dropping the gun to the floor.

 

As Piper ran past, keeping her head low, she picked up Nancy’s fallen handgun. Nancy rushed to grab her, but Percy held her back, pulling her towards him and elbowing her in the face.

 

A gun felt _stupid_ in her hands, but it seemed more dangerous to just leave it there. She held the gun with her left, and _katoptris_ on her right.

 

Then something moved past her in a blur.

 

Issa was chasing two formidable agents to the warehouse. They had their guns pointed at her, but she blocked them easily with her shield. The point here was the _chase_. Piper had time to watch her force them into the building, hearing a lot of shouts, cracks and _BOOMs_ before she moved across the yard.

 

Mags kept the other agents occupied. The mortal was definitely in her element. She’d shot at the hands of the Kingshield agents, ridding them of their guns, leaving them with their retractable swords -- all of them had them, like Nancy. One of the agents reached out to Piper with their sword, and she deflected it with her dagger. While Piper fought them off, another agent approached her from behind --

 

Mags had run out of bullets by then, but being as far away as she was, she could only do one thing -- she threw the entire gun at the approaching agent’s head. They fell back with a yell.

 

Piper shot Mags a smile as she kicked her enemy to the ground, finally reaching Alex in three more steps.

 

The gun felt heavier in her hands now. She didn’t know what to do with it. But with Riley still hunched over Alex, saying something to her in low tones, she thought she should at least try --

 

She held out the gun a few feet left of Riley, and took a shot. Immediately, her arm shook with the unexpected kickback of the weapon. Piper strengthened her grip, taking deep breaths.

 

The bullet ricocheted of the concrete, but it caught his attention. He swivelled around with his hands up.

 

Riley had the balls to offer a friendly smile. “ _Hey_ , long time no --”

 

Piper lifted the gun to him and he stopped. She lowered it a little bit, fearing she might actually pull the trigger and hit him somewhere important.

 

“What did you do to her?” she asked.

 

The smile fell from Riley’s face. The expression he had now was more similar to the night on the _Argo III.5_ , back when he was worried about Alex and stressing about her -- not when he had imprisoned her and was planning to do Gods’ knows what.

 

He still had his hands lifted, but his fingers rubbed against his thumbs.

 

“Electric shocks. It’s pretty hard to find something to stop her when she has no known weak spot. Another fun tidbit there for Descendants of Achilles 101. Nothing can stop our very own Captain Marvel.” He paused, frowning. “Well, almost nothing.”

 

Piper’s eyes flickered to Alex, who was looking straight at her, but having a really hard time doing it. The shocks were less now, the golden glow completely gone but Alex was clearly still feeling the after-effects.

 

“ _My pare --_ ” Alex whispered, “my _parents --_ ”

 

The daughter of Aphrodite turned back to Riley. “What did you do?” Piper demanded.

 

“She can’t fight back. Otherwise, her parents die. That wasn’t _my_ idea,” he added quickly. “That was a deal she made with Scott. Swore on the River Styx.”

 

Piper’s face fell. She looked back to Alex. _You didn’t_ , she wanted to say.

 

Alex shut her eyes.

 

“So, you see,” Riley said slowly. “This whole thing is for nothing. She can’t even fight.”

 

Piper narrowed her eyes. “I wouldn’t say it’s for nothing.” She took one step closer to Riley, the gun still pointed at him but her aim lower, less focused.

 

“Oh, really? We dropped two bombs on Camp Halfblood. _Two_. And we’ve got Batman versus Superman over there --” Riley pointed behind her. She didn’t want to look, but she knew he must have meant Percy and Nancy. “Wonder Woman back in action,” he pointed again, higher, and he must have meant Issa in the warehouse. “You got a _satyr_. And then you’ve got Mags back on her trigger-happy business. Thanks, by the way. She’s been gun-sober for almost two years now, but I guess you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

 

“ _SHUT UP_ ,” Alex shouted. It sounded like it took all her effort to say just two words.

 

Both of them looked to her. Alex’s eyes were wide open now, both of them glowing a fierce gold. The sight kind of scared Piper -- it made Alex look more inhuman than when it was just her aura glowing. But with all her energy locked inside, her flashing eyes must have been the only way they could escape --

 

Riley grabbed for her gun.

 

But _this_ was something she’d trained for at least. What to do when an enemy grabs for your weapon in close combat?

 

Piper reached forward, using his momentum to push him back, twisting the weapon in their hands, until it was back in hers -- and then she threw it to the side. Keeping her eyes locked on Riley, she twisted his arm and turned him around, pushing his chin down to the ground. She heard the gun clatter down one of the manholes.

Now that she only had _katoptris_ , this felt much more comfortable.

 

The blade was held against his neck. She saw the remote under his knee and she grabbed that too, throwing it down the same manhole. The shocks along Alex’s net stopped completely, the power shutting down.

 

“I know what you’re about, Riley,” Piper frowned. “There’s a hundred reasons why you’re doing this. I could guess all of them. And you can lie all you want but I’ll just look at your eyebrows and your hands to see which one hits the mark. It might be because you feel worthless, or maybe it’s you trying to prove yourself to someone, to Scott…or maybe it’s just about your brother. Trust me…”

 

Piper lowered her head, her mouth closer to Riley’s ear. “… _trust me_ , I get it.”

 

It would have been so easy now. She was right there. Why not use the gift her mother gave her? Why not break her promise like that?

 

A lifetime of thinking seemed to pass between Piper’s eyes -- all of the reasons why she shouldn’t use charmspeak, and all the reasons she _should_. All the reasons why it didn’t matter anymore, how there were bigger people out here, more important than herself, people who were risking their lives --

 

But no. This was _her_ life. And as long as she was fighting, she wasn’t going to sacrifice anymore of herself than she already had.

 

Instead, she just dug in the blade to Riley’s neck.

 

“But here’s something that’s always gonna be true: it doesn’t matter if the fight’s between gods and mortals, or mortals and monsters -- people like you _always_ lose. Because you’re the destroyers.” Piper lifted _katoptris_ from Riley’s neck.

 

Around her, the other fights were also ending. Taki had come back and was standing behind Mags, who held two new guns in her hands, with all the agents in front of her. The agents were bowing down to the ground, their hands on their heads. Percy had frozen Nancy with the last of the sewer-water. The only unfrozen part of her was her head, and she was _still_ spewing insults and threats at him until Taki took a sweatband around his head and stuffed it into her mouth.

 

Piper caught the satyr’s eye and tilted her head towards Riley. He knew exactly what to do.

 

While Taki tied Riley up, Alex and Percy went to work on untangling Alex. As soon as she was free, she collapsed into Piper’s arms, shaking uncontrollably, sniffing and breathing heavily as if she’d just finished crying for a long time -- or as if this was the first clean breath of air she’d had in years.

 

“ _My parents_ \--” Alex’s breath was shaky. Piper held her arms around her, tight. “Th-they’re g-going to kill my p-parents --”

 

“That’s not going to happen,” Percy said, putting one hand on Alex’s shoulder, looking straight at her. “We’re going to save them.”

 

“She can’t fight,” Piper explained, gulping. “She swore on the River Styx that she wouldn’t fight or else they’ll kill them.”

 

Percy paled. “What kind of deal is that? Is that -- is that based on magic? What do these Kingshield guys even have?”

 

“It’s a _shit_ deal,” Riley murmured. Percy held out Riptide to his throat instantly, but Riley just scoffed. “Jesus Christ, give me a break.” Percy lowered the blade.

 

“Get her out of this deal or else,” Percy warned.

 

“What, you’re gonna waterbend me, Katara?”

 

Percy’s face twitched, like he was making a conscious decision to _not_ like the reference Riley just made.

“What did she actually say?” Piper interrupted, steering them back. “What were the exact words of the deal?”

 

Alex stirred in her arms, and she forgot all about Percy and Riley. She held Alex’s cheek gently to help her look up, but she just coughed. “No harm will come to my parents as long as I don’t fight back. I…we said that at the mall. That’s why I ran, I -- if I couldn’t fight, I was going to run. I was going to run home, they have a bomb, they have -- they have _agents_ \--” Alex struggled.

 

“So we get rid of the bomb, we get rid of the agents. That’s the harm,” Percy concluded, scratching his head. “ _That’s_ the harm that they’re talking about.”

 

He looked to Piper and she arched an eyebrow. Percy shook his head. “Listen, after years of these random _swearing_ by the Styx, you get used to figuring out which ones are the ‘for life’ ones and which ones are the ‘I just wanna get this done with’ ones. This sounds like the second one. You just wanted to save your parents from what’s happening now,” he added, softer, nodding at Alex.

 

Then he glared at Riley. “And this jerk’s not helping with anything. Tell us what we need to know and we’ll leave you alone. We’ll set you and your _agents_ free.”

 

Riley rolled his eyes. “Not likely.”

 

“We can figure this out ourselves,” Piper said, trying to keep her voice calm. “We just need to know where Alex’s parents are. And we get there with Nico, we -- we find out where the bomb is, we stop the agents --”

 

“That leaves too many unknowns. We don’t know _where_ this bomb is, we don’t even know how to defuse a bomb -- can we get Leo?” Percy asked.

 

“Maybe. But I don’t want to take him away from what he’s doing, maybe we can get Harley?”

 

“Then we’d have to make too many round-trips, and we don’t know who’s pulling the strings. They --” Percy gulped. “It might have already happened. Do _we_ count as fighting? Or was it just Alex?”

 

Piper fell silent. They looked to Riley for answers, but he just shrugged. Piper had never wanted to castrate someone more.

 

They couldn’t just sit here thinking of plans and possibilities. It would take up too much time to rely on people far away from them, so they needed to look at what they had. They had _Mags_. Piper looked behind her.

 

Mags and Taki had just finished tying up all the Kingshield agents with rope from the supply van. Piper didn’t know if she’d heard anything about the conversation.

 

But where was Iss --?

 

The Amazon burst from an upper-floor window, landing easily on the ground, two unconscious agents on her left shoulder. She threw them down without any mercy and then stomped towards Riley -- who, justifiably, looked frightened at the sight of the strong woman heading towards him.

 

“I heard everything,” the woman announced, brushing her braids behind her shoulder. “You left this girl no choice but to give up her power. You threatened her family.”

 

Riley tried to scramble backwards to escape but Issa moved past Piper and Percy and grabbed him by his collar, lifting him up to her six-foot height.

 

“Cooperate,” she said, “or I’ll throw you into the sun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After many moons, here’s a new chapter !!! 
> 
> This chapter was a lot of fighting, but I’ll be wrapping up ‘Phase One’ of this story pretty soon. Judging from how long it’s taking me to write, this is going to be one hell of a project. But thank you guys for always reading, and for staying and checking back every now and then! I’m so glad, and very grateful for all the people following ‘For Only The Buried’.
> 
> I hope I’ve written Percy all right!! 
> 
> Honestly, I’m kind of sad Riley’s a ‘villain’ now. Writing all this, it would’ve been great to see Riley interact with Percy positively. They’re quite similar in some ways. Both of them are protective, known as the ‘jokers’ of the group, light-hearted and family-oriented. But exactly what family Riley chooses to protect is still up in the air…
> 
> God, I still don’t know if I do fight scenes well. They just get so confusing in my head, especially with so many characters rip
> 
> But after watching Avengers Endgame, I’ve now got all kinds of inspiration
> 
> As always, thank you for reading!! I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!


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